In Search For Haven
by AliciaMCDeBurgh
Summary: She fell for the detective. He caught her in her fall. She stole his heart. He gave in lovingly. Two people on opposite sides of the law come together with a bond stronger than the eternal red string. Fem!Kaito. Pairing: ShinKai/KaiShin
1. Chapter 1 - The Antidote

_**Author's Note:**_ Hello there, so, I have grown such a love for Detective Conan and Magic Kaito and I have also fallen in love with many ships along the way. I have read many ShinKai/KaiShin fics and I love all of them, so I was inspired to make my own story with this ship, as I think that they are beautiful together. I was also intrigued by the large amount of _Fem!Shinichi_ that there is and that there are hardly any with _Fem!Kaito,_ so I thought I would add to that. Anyway, onward with the story… enjoy!

 _(Afternote: the songs that inspired me for the title of this story are "Shelter" by Machineheart, And "Rise and Fall" by Adventure Club (Feat. Krewella). These are really great songs that fit this story, and the relationship between the characters, so if anyone wants to, go and listen to them as they really are great songs, but only if you want to. I hope you enjoy them.)_

…

 _ **Chapter 1 – The Antidote**_

So there Conan was, hiding in the darkened shadows on a roof of where a sniper had fired many missed shots. It wasn't just a normal Kaitou Kid heist.

 _Earlier that day..._

 _Conan had just arrived back from school when they were notified of Kaitou Kid's next target, the 'Palace In The Sky'. He couldn't help but smirk to seeing how Nakamori-keibu was boasting about actually catching Kid for good this time._ "When would that man click on to the thief's tricks and pranks," _He thought to himself as he walked through the detective Mouri agency. Calling out a 'I'm home' to Kogoro and Ran, he placed his backpack on the couch and sat beside it, watching the news as they guessed on what Kid would do for his next trick._

 _"Conan-kun," Ran called out from the kitchen. She poked her head though the door to look at him. "Would you like to come with me and Sonoko to Kid's heist?"_

 _Conan, suddenly feeling a burst of excitement, nodded and showed her sparkling eyes. "Yes, please Ran-neechan!" He beamed, not forgetting to place his child voice._

 _Ran smiled to the child's excitement. "Okay, but I have a date tonight, so I'll take you afterwards okay."_

 _Conan turned to her and nodded. "Okay."_

 _Ran had moved on with her life as the years of waiting for Shinichi to return grew long and lonely. She had thought long and hard about her decision and when she finally made up her mind, she never felt more relieved with herself. At first, Conan was a little upset, but he knew he couldn't stay like that forever, as he too had a life to live as well. Also, the two figured out that the feelings that they had felt for each other, had evolved into that of a sibling love. And they realised that it was everyone else's words about the two of them growing up to marry each other in future that put the idea of them actually being together into their minds, as if they had to be together because everyone presumed them to. And in the end, it made the both of them happier and relaxed. But the only problem about the situation, was that Ran could move on with her life. Conan couldn't._

 _Turning his attention back to the television, he listened to what the news reporters had to say about the thief's antics._

 _"What will Kid's next trick be?" Asked the news reporter._

 _Conan couldn't help but smirk to the question, which was asked every time Kaitou Kid sent out a notice. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"_

 _..._

 _When the time for Kaitou Kid's heist came around, excitement was sprawling all the way through the crowd. Sonoko was busy prattling to Ran about how she might actually get to meet her precious Kid-sama. Kogoro was just there to make sure they got home safely, and also to see if he could guess where KID would next appear. Conan was keeping an eye out for any suspicious characters in the crowd._

 _Suzuki Jirokichi was standing by the crowd discussing the security plans with Nakamori-keibu._

 _The target: 'Palace In The Sky' was a ruby framed with a golden frame around its octagon shape. It was situated inside the building on a velvet blue cushion with guards surrounding it._

 _As time went on, the target was taken (as expected), and Kid managed to get away. Conan found that the main way for the thief to escape was to go to the roof. And that's where the faux child went. The roof._

 _He had waited for the thief behind the door of the roof, so when the door would open, he would step out and confront the thief._

 _After a while of waiting, Conan could hear the hurried whispers of footsteps coming up the stairs. They stopped when they reached the roof's access and the door to the roof opened, evidently shielding Conan from the moonlight. A sheet of white whipped around the door frame, closing the door behind them._

 _Conan watched as the thief ran to the roof's edge, their cape whipping left to right with their movement. When the thief reached into his pocket, Conan chose that moment to come out of the shadows._

 _"Come to check the gem, Kaitou Kid?"_

 _Kid rounded on the faux child, a little stunned to not knowing that someone was there sooner. When they just saw the child detective, a smile of relief grew across his face. "Oh, so what do I owe the pleasure, Meitantei."_

 _Conan stepped closer to the thief. "I'm sorry I didn't attend your heist tonight."_

 _"Yes, I was disappointed when I didn't see my favourite critic." Came Kid's slightly saddened reply._

 _"Well, I thought I would go to the place of which you would escape. And you proved me right." Conan remarked, the smirk never leaving his lips._

 _Kid stepped closer to the child, smiling at him. That was something that Conan respected about the thief. Kid would never look down at him, or kneel to reach his level, as someone would a small child. But Kid always treated Conan like he was an adult, like the eighteen year old he actually was instead of the eight-year-old he appeared to be._

 _"I have that thing that can help you with your little... problem." Kid spoke, catching Conan's attention._

 _Conan stepped closer to the thief. "What, you mean... you mean you found the antidote?" He asked, his voice low._

 _Kid shook his head. "No, but I managed to sneak into a certain laboratory and collect all of the information needed for it._ _But the lab was only a temporary work place for them as it seemed half abandoned when I followed a few henchmen there. to gather the information."_

 _Conan's eyes widened. "You could have gotten caught! Or worse!" he snapped, both matter-of-factly and infuriated that the thief would go to such lengths._

 _Kid smirked. "Well I appreciate the care and worry for my wellbeing, but I can assure that I was in and out unnoticed."_

 _There was a silent moment before Conan released a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was for the Black Organisation to think Kid was onto them._

 _Conan opened his mouth to reply when the sound of a whispered gun shot was heard. Before Conan could even process the sound and where it came from, he was being lifted and carried into a darker end of the roof. Another two bullets being fired but colliding with the concrete of the roof._

...

Kid had carried Conan into a dark corner of the roof they had met only minutes before. The thief was relieved to know that the sniper had missed and hadn't hit the faux child holding his breath in his arms. Kid was pressed up against the wall of the entrance to the roof, back flat against the concrete wall and legs folded underneath him.

Another shot fired, but grazed the other side of the roof entrance.

"It's obviously a new sniper, not a professional." Conan spoke, keeping his voice low and his eyes fixed to the point behind the thief.

Kid nodded. "I was actually waiting for when these would show up."

Conan turned in Kid's arms, facing him. "You knew they were going to be here?!" He whisper shouted, looking to the thief as if he were insane.

Kid just shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a target that needs to take out the shooter so they don't hurt anyone. Just like it's a detective's job to catch a criminal so _they_ don't hurt anyone."

"Yeah, but there are _safe_ ways of doing it as a detective," Conan snapped back.

Kid raised an eyebrow. "Oh what, like the way _you_ chase and catch criminals? By recklessly running after them?"

Conan's lips parted to answer, but they shut almost immediately after, seeing KID's point. Changing the subject, Conan pressed a little closer to KID, in order to get closer to see past the edge of the wall on their end. It took all the energy in him to hide the blush creeping to his face due to the feeling of a slight pressured bulge on KID's chest. No, that secret can wait until later. He scorned himself silently as he concentrated more on the task at hand.

Slowly and carefully, Conan moved so that just his eye could see the windows of the building opposite the one they were on. The building was taller, so the sniper must be on the third floor down, due to the shots not being fired from a diagonal high angle.

"Meitantei," Kid called gently. "I've got an idea of how to get you out of here."

"What about you?" He asked back, worry suddenly raising within him to now knowing what the thief would do in order to fill out those terms.

"I'll be fine. The main task at hand is getting you out of here," Kid reassured. "I'll cause a distraction by running over to the roof's edge, and when the sniper starts shooting at me, run for the exit." That was all that was said before Kid carefully shifted Conan off of his lap and ran to the roof's edge. Conan, knowing that he could get both himself and Kid hurt if he didn't comply, listened to the thief's instructions and ran into the exit as soon as he heard the sniper shoot at Kid. Kid thankfully made it off the roof, and Conan could see the white hang-glider drifting further away into the night. Relieved to know that Kid was alright, Conan smiled and ran down the stairs.

Running down the stairs, Conan placed his hand in his pocket to find something that wasn't in there before he ran to the roof. Retrieving his hand from his pocket, he realised that it was the information Kid had gathered from the Black Organisation about the antidote. Smirking, Conan slipped the information key back into his pocket and continued running down the stairs to meet with Ran, Sonoko and Kogoro.

When he reached where they were waiting, Ran had kneeled down to his level. Relieved and happy to know that he was all right. "Conan-kun, I'm so glad you're all right."

Kogoro looked to him suspiciously. "Where did you run off to?"

Conan looked to him innocently. "Oh, I just wanted to take a look around." He turned back to Ran. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

Ran smiled softly to him. "That's okay." She stood and offered him her hand. "Come on, let's get home."

Conan nodded and placed his small hand into Ran's, letting her walk him to the car. It was hard for Conan to keep his excitement contained, with having the information to the antidote.

...

The next day, Conan rushed over to professor Agasa's house. He told Ran that he was just going to play with friends, and she smiled letting him go. But what he was really doing was informing Haibara of the information that Kid had gathered about the antidote.

Knocking on the door to the professor's house, Conan waited on the porch to be answered. After a few minutes, the door opened to reveal the little scientist. She looked tired, but Conan could have guessed that due to him knocking on the professor's door at eight in the morning.

Haibara yawned before looking to the little detective. "Kudo-kun?" She questioned, not knowing whether or not him being there was a dream or reality. When she blinked a few times, she knew she was awake. "What are you doing here this early? Actually, I think the better question to ask is _why_ are you even awake this early in the morning?"

Conan looked to her, his expression excited. He stepped into the house and waited for Haibara to close the door before speaking. "Last night, I spoke with Kid. Kid gave me some information that he had gathered from the Black Organisation." Seeing Haibara's eyes widen, he smiled. "Kid infiltrated one of their temporary hideouts and managed to gain the information needed for the antidote, and it was probably the only chance that he had to get it as they seemed to have been clearing away everything in a hurry when he got there."

Haibara folded her arms across her chest. "How do you know that Kid isn't working with them?" She asked, her expression from one of surprise to serious.

Conan shook his head. "I can assure you that Kid isn't working with them."

"But he's also a criminal." She notified. "He can't be trusted."

Something clenched in Conan's chest to her words, but he managed to hide it. "Haibara, you don't know Kid like I do. Do you think you could make an antidote with that information?" He asked, changing the subject.

After a few moments of silence, Haibara sighed and took the information from him. Looking at the memory key, she glanced up at him. "You know, people would die for a chance that you have to go back and start their life over. But you want your old self back so desperately."

"It's because I already experienced what it was like to be a child, and I don't intend on staying like the way I am." He looked to somewhere else. "I'll admit, that sometimes being in a child's body has come in handy, but it still places a limit to what things I can and can't do." Conan looked back to her. "That's why I want to revert back to my original body."

Haibara raised an eyebrow. "Is it so you can go back to Mouri-san?"

"No," he began, shaking his head. "Ran's already moved on with her life, and I'm happy for her. I understand that she was fed up of waiting around for me to come back, and as my time of being Conan, I've grown to love her more like a sister." There was a pause before he added, "And believe it or not, I _too_ have moved on with my life."

That shocked the little scientist, but she relaxed and gave him a small smile. Turning in the direction of her lab, she gave Conan a side look. "I'll get started on the antidote right away. I'll give you a call when it's ready." With that, she turned away from the faux child and walked into her lab.

Conan smiled, looking up to the window. "Thank you, Kid," he whispered to the now empty room.

...

It took Haibara four days to make the antidote with the information given to her by Kid. At first, she was a little untrusting to hear that Conan had gathered the information needed from the magician under the moonlight, but she trusted Conan's word and went on with making the antidote.

When she was sure it was ready, she picked up her phone and dialled Conan's number.

Conan was in the detective Mouri agency when his blue phone vibrated in his back pocket. Retrieving it from his back pocket, he walked out into the hallway of the agency to answer the call. Seeing no one around, he answered. "Haibara."

 _"The antidote is ready,"_ She spoke, her tone its usual cold and bluntness.

Conan felt excitement fill up inside of him as he heard those four words. Nodding (even though he knew she couldn't see it), he answered. "Okay, but Conan will have to say goodbye to everyone before I take the antidote. Just so there isn't any suspicion of Edogawa Conan and Kudo Shinichi being the same person."

 _"Yes, I understand. Take your time."_ With that, she hung up, leaving Conan to sort out his new arrangements for leaving.

Later in the day, Conan went up to Ran, when she finally came back from going out with her boyfriend, and told her that he was going back to be with his family in America. She obviously felt sad, but she smiled softly to him knowing that he was going back to his family. But in honour of him leaving, she decided to make his favourite meal for his goodbye. She said that he could invite Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi over to join him for dinner, which he thought helped with giving them his final goodbye.

When the three children came over to have dinner at the detective Mouri agency, and were told that Conan was leaving in couple of days, they couldn't help but cry. But with reassurance of him telling them that he would write to them when he had free time, they instantly perked up.

They had an entertaining meal, even Sonoko and Kogoro were invited to sit with them. Sonoko sometimes found Conan annoying, but she admitted that she was going to miss him. Kogoro knew that it would be different without him around, but he just hoped that he didn't cause his parents too much trouble. Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta had nagged Conan to keep them up to date with the cases that he would solve in America. They were sad when it got late, and the three children had to go home. But knowing that Conan was going to stay in touch, and not forget them, they were happy.

The next day, Agasa had come to collect Conan from the detective Mouri agency. He asked Conan if he had everything with him, and the faux child nodded. Now it came to the final goodbyes.

As Agasa placed the last bag of Conan's luggage in the back of his yellow beetle, Ran and Kogoro stood near the bottom of the steps of the agency. Ran kneeled down in front of Conan and enveloped him in her arms. "Goodbye Conan-kun. I'll miss you so much." She pulled away to look into his eyes, her hands gently placed on his small shoulders. "Don't forget to email me and tell me how you're doing, okay."

Conan nodded, placing a small smile on his face. "Okay Ran-neechan. Thank you for looking after me."

Tears began to fall as she embraced him again. "I love you like a little brother Conan-kun, so don't forget about me, okay."

"I won't Ran-neechan. That's a promise." He reassured as Ran pulled away again, but this time stood up to stand next to her father.

Conan looked to Kogoro, and smiled a grateful smile. "Thank you for having me, Oji-san."

Kogoro looked to him before stepping closer and kneeling down on one knee to his level. With a smile, he lifted a hand to ruffle Conan's hair. "You were troublesome most of the time Brat, but you were alright to have around." With a moment silence, he continued, "I'll miss ya."

Conan smiled to him.

Kogoro stood from his kneeling position, giving a gesture towards the yellow beetle. "You better get going, otherwise you'll miss your flight."

Conan, nodding in agreement, turned and ran towards the car. With a final wave to Kogoro and Ran, he climbed into the car and closed the door. The car began driving, waiting until they were well out of Kogoro's and Ran's sight before Conan released the breath he was holding.

As they drove on, excitement and relief filled up within Conan. Excitement to know that he could finally revert to his original body. Relieved to know that he could finally do the things that he couldn't whilst being Conan.

When they arrived at the professor's house, Conan opened the car door and ran into the house. As soon as he reached inside, Haibara was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. The sight downed Conan's excitement a little.

She sighed, knowing that he was in a hurry to take the antidote. "You do know that, if you take this, you could die." She spoke coldly and seriously. "As it's a permanent fix, you could die from the shock of the transformation, and your heart could give out during it."

Conan inhaled deeply before silently releasing the air in his lungs. Looking to Haibara seriously and determinedly, he answered, "I know that it isn't going to be easy. I'm prepared and I'm ready for that."

After a moment, Haibara held out her hand and showed him the permanent antidote. Giving it to him, she let her hand fall to her side.

Conan looked to the pill and curled his fist around it.

...

When Conan had collected some of his clothes from the Kudo manor, in order to change into them when he was back in his original form, he went back over to the professor's. It was Haibara's order for him to take the antidote at the professor's house, so that if he did die or collapse, then there was someone there to check on him.

Understanding their concern, he decided that being over the professor's was probably the best idea.

Going into the downstairs bathroom with his eighteen-year-old clothes, Conan sat on the toilet seat and looked at the pill in the palm of his hand. After staring at it for a few seconds, he threw it into his mouth and swallowed.

When he didn't feel anything straight away, he thought that maybe it wasn't the right pill and that Haibara had misplaced it. But when he felt the sudden pain shoot through him, he knew it was the right pill. Hunching over himself, he clenched a hand over the material of his shirt above his heart. The pain erupted again, leaving him panting and gasping for air. The third time he threw his head back as he released a painful scream to the feeling of his body beginning to grow.

After a painful ten minutes, Conan felt the growing stop. He opened his eyes (not aware that he closed them during the transformation) and looked around the bathroom. Sitting up from the floor when he fell off the toilet seat, he could see that his clothes had been ripped and had fallen off around him. Standing with the support of the bath's edge, he stood to look at himself in the mirror.

When he was standing sort of steadily, he took in his reflection. He wasn't looking at the image of an eight-year-old Conan. He was staring at the image of eighteen-year-old Shinichi. Shinichi couldn't help but smile to finally being in his true form. For good.

Looking for his clothes, Shinichi changed into them before exiting the bathroom only to be greeted by Agasa and Haibara. Agasa looked relieved with a wide smile on his face, whilst Haibara just gave a small smile.

Agasa stepped forward and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome back Shinichi."

Shinichi smiled to him. "Thanks professor."

Haibara looked to the now grown teen. "How do you feel Kudo-kun?"

Shinichi looked to her and then looked to the ground. "I feel... all right."

She raised an eyebrow to that. "Are you sure? You seemed to have hesitated when answering that question."

Shinichi looked back to her, prepared to reassure her with an answer, when his body felt heavy and the room around him began to spin. He placed a hand to his head, squinting his eyes in order to try and regain his focus, but ended up seeing black spots instead.

He took a step forward but stumbled due to the weakness in his newly grown legs. He tried to say something, but instead, he fell forward, landing in the arms of the professor. He was pale with his eyes closed, in the professor's arms, passed out.

Haibara was quickly by Agasa's side as he carefully lowered Shinichi to the floor. She knelt down, and lifted a hand to check the teen's pulse. Her eyes widened to the feel of it speeding erratically. She whipped her head round to face Agasa. "Professor! Call an ambulance!"

Hearing the seriousness - and almost panic in her voice - he quickly stood and ran to carry out his task.

While he was calling the ambulance, Haibara ran to collect a wet towel for the fully-grown detective lying on the floor. With everything needed, she ran back to Shinichi and kneeled beside him. She began gently dabbing his forehead and face, hoping to cool down his heated temperature. "Hold on Kudo-kun."

...

The sound of an irritating beeping sound was welcomed to Shinichi's ears when he stirred awake. Whatever he was laying on was soft and cushioned. It didn't feel like he was at the professor's house.

Slowly opening his eyes, Shinichi was welcomed by the sight of bright white. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he was surprised to see the room he was in. It was a hospital room. The heart monitor was to his left, held above his head. A wire lead from it to the bed he was lying on, which he soon found was connected to an IV which was attached to his pointer finger. Lifting up his left hand, he stared at the IV. Through his spread open fingers, he saw dark hair, at the foot of his bed.

Moving his hand down, he looked to the person sleeping at the foot of his hospital bed. Their arms were folded on the mattress, their head held inside them. Ran, he thought. A small smile found its way to his lips as he could see that she was worried.

"For a moment there, we thought you had left us." Spoke a familiar voice from the window to the right of Shinichi's room.

Turning to the source, Shinichi's eyes widened slightly. "K-Kid?" His voice was hoarse and ruff, and his throat felt like he had swallowed sand.

Kid was sat on the window sill, fully clad in his Kid outfit. He had his arms crossed across his chest. One foot was placed on the window sill whilst the other was hanging from the edge. Kid was practically glowing in the moonlight.

Turning to face the now awoken detective, Kid smiled and stood away from the window sill and into the hospital room, with such grace and no sound. Kid walked closer to the bed and handed Shinichi a glass of water, making it appear out of nowhere. When Shinichi looked to it suspiciously, Kid's eyes rolled. "It's just water, Meitantei. I can promise you it isn't poisoned. Drink it slowly, it'll help with your throat."

Hesitantly taking the glass, Shinichi followed Kid's instruction and took a long, but slow drink. After drinking half the glass, Shinichi closed his eyes with a relieved sigh, feeling the cold and freshness of the water smoothing the roughness of his throat.

After a moment, Shinichi opened his eyes to meet Kid's. "Thanks."

Kid waved it off. "How do you feel?"

Shinichi countered the question for a moment before answering, "I feel... a little weak. But other than that, I'm okay."

Kid placed his hands in his pockets. "That's good."

Shinichi smiled to the thief, "Thank you, Kid. I'm back to my original body thanks to you." Before Kid could answer, Shinichi turned serious. "Although, I've been kind of worried about you since that night, because you just took off whilst that sniper was still shooting."

KID smirked. "I appreciate that, Meitantei. Thank you. But I can reassure you that I escaped without grazes and bullet wounds."

"What about the sniper? Did you do something about him?"

Regretfully, Kid shook his head. "I'm afraid he got away. I went back to where he was, but I only found the empty shells of bullets, so he must have left in a hurry."

Shinichi nodded slowly, "He must have seen the police who heard the shooting and thought it best to escape." Looking to Kid, his expression softened a little. "Kid, you do know that they were after to you? I don't think they're going to stop."

Kid shrugged, "Ah, I know. But I'm not going to stop only because they _want_ me to. I have a goal which I need to fulfil, and they're not going to get in the way of it. Just like you, Meitantei."

To that comment, he glanced over to where Ran was sleeping at the foot of his bed. "How long have I been out for?" He asked Kid in a low whisper.

"Three days." Kid answered plainly, earning a slight look of surprise from the eastern detective. "Lady-san has been waiting by your bedside for the past two days. She's been trying to stay awake for when you opened your eyes, but she obviously pushed herself to her limit of energy." When Kid looked back to Ran, and saw her beginning to stir, he took that as his cue to leave.

Turning away from the bed, Kid looked over his shoulder to Shinichi. "Well now that I know that you are okay, Meitantei, I'll now be taking my leave." Stepping onto the window sill, he added, "I look forward to seeing you again." With that, Kid jumped out of the window, his white cape following down like a white river.

Shinichi had reached a hand out to the window, his mouth open, probably trying to answer when he heard Ran's soft murmuring at the foot of his bed. "Shinichi?"

Shinichi turned to see Ran sitting up in her chair and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. When she moved her hands away from her eyes, she looked around to see Shinichi sitting up in bed. Her eyes widened. "Shinichi!" She exclaimed relieved before she stood and enveloped the detective in her arms. "I'm so glad you're awake, I've been worried sick."

Shinichi would have returned her embrace, but he was too busy trying to find air, and also keeping the half glass of water still in his hand so he didn't spill water over the bed sheets.

Pulling away from him, Ran smiled but her eyes showed annoyance. Her face being the most perfect irony. "Shinichi, I'm glad you're awake. But," She paused to darken her expression and leaned in closer. "Where. The. Hell. Have you been?! The last time we spoke was three months ago! What the hell were you doing for all that time?! Why didn't you contact me? Did you not think I would care? What?!"

Shinichi looked a little startled to her sudden change in behaviour, but when she finished ranting, he sighed before smiling softly to her. "Look, Ran, I'm sorry. The case I was working on at the time got really difficult and I didn't have time to call you. Trust me, I would have called you if I had the chance."

Ran looked to him for a moment before sighing herself. Sinking down into the chair she was previously sitting in, she ran a hand through her hair before letting her eyes travel back to Shinichi. "Okay, I... I guess I can let you go on this one. Mainly because I can't be bothered to argue with you right now, but I want you to answer me this honestly. No lies." When Shinichi gave a slight nod in understanding, she inhaled deeply before releasing her breath into her question. "Are you back... For good?"

After a moment of silence, Shinichi took a sip from his water before setting it down softly on the table beside his bed. He smiled reassuringly. "Yeah," he began with certainty. "I'm back for good."

Ran smiled. "That's good to hear." She leant forward a little in her chair and placed her elbow on one of the arms, placing her chin in her hand. "You've been asleep for three days. The doctors said that you were unconscious due to major exhaustion."

Shinichi smiled, looking guilty. "Maybe I ran too much over the past few weeks."

Ran rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you really can't take care of yourself, can you?" She asked, but didn't leave room for an answer. "You maybe intelligent, but you're still only human Shinichi, remember that."

Shinichi gave her a flat look. "Thanks, best advise ever," he said sarcastically.

Ran breathed out a laugh before standing up, collecting her coat that was draped over the back of the chair. Stepping closer, she smiled widely before reaching down and ruffling his hair. "You're like my little brother Shinichi, I'm only showing my concern." She reached over his head to press the emergency button behind him, alerting the doctors and nurses that Shinichi was finally awake. "Should have done that a while ago, but I wanted to scold you first."

Shinichi smiled softly to her. "Thank you Ran, I mean - you know - for being here, and waiting for me to wake up. I really appreciate it."

Her expression softened. "You are very welcome." She turned away from him to walk out of the room, ready to get out of the way for when the room was filled with nurses and doctors. She opened the door but paused to look at him over her shoulder. "Welcome back."

He smiled to her in return. "It's good to be back."

...

 _ **Author Note: So, this is the first chapter of "In Search For Haven." I hope you guys enjoyed it. I will let you know now, that this is a ShinKai/KaiShin Fanfic and is rated**_ _ **M for mature references/scenes and strong language.**_ _ **Yes, this is also a Fem!Kaito Fanfic, (as I wanted to add to the Fem!Kaito world of writing as it seems a little rare). I have written a story on Wattpad called "A Magician's Twin Sister", which is also sort of based on a Fem!Kaito setting but completely different storyline and yeah, so if you're interested then go and check it out. Anyway, that's it, tell me what you thought of this. I'm dying to know.**_

 _ **This next chapter is 'Welcome Back Shinichi', so please look forward to it.**_

 _ *** MANY KISSES * AMCDeBurgh;-)**_ _ **^_~**_


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcome Back, Shinichi

_**Chapter 2 – Welcome Back Shinichi**_

Thankfully for Shinichi, he was out of the hospital after three days from the day he woke. He insisted on going home straight away, and tried to persuade the doctors and nurses that he was in perfect condition. They didn't believe him, so he was stuck being bed ridden for another three days. He had never felt happier than on the day of when the doctor gave him the all clear and released him.

When he stepped out of the hospital, Agasa was waiting outside for him. Shinichi smiled a grateful smile before stepping closer to the professor leaning against his yellow beetle. Agasa looked up when he heard footsteps approaching, and instantly, he smiled bright and wide to the fully-grown detective. He pushed away from his car and stepped closer to boy he had known since Shinichi was a child.

Agasa clapped him on the shoulder, a Deja vu moment of when Shinichi had taken the antidote. "Welcome back Shinichi. How are you feeling?"

Shinichi smiled to him in return, "I'm feeling great professor. I'm also glad that I'm out of hospital."

Agasa nodded, "I'm glad too. Get in the car, I'll drive you home." He gestured to the car behind him, and turned around to climb into the driver's seat.

Shinichi stepped closer to the car and opened the back door, only to frown to the blunt look he was receiving from a miniature scientist, who had obviously been sitting in the back of the car for some time. Sighing, he climbed into the seat next to her and clicked in his seat, closing the door. When Agasa glanced at them both sitting awkwardly silent, he breathed out a sigh - not wanting the sound to be audible - and started the engine, driving away from the hospital.

In the back of the car, the two youngsters were looking out of their windows. Shinichi mustered the bravery to start a conversation and break the awkward silence. "So, how... how have you been, Haibara?"

Haibara didn't turn to him. She just turned away from the window to close her eyes and cross her arms over her chest, "I'm fine. How about you? How are you feeling?"

Shinichi smiled a little, knowing that she did really care about those around her. His smile was even a little smug when he answered her. "Oh, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks for asking. I'm surprised you didn't give an entire risk test on what could have happened to me when I took the antidote."

Haibara's hands squeezed her arms slightly as her expression turned into one that was both irritated and angry. "You _do_ know that your immune system is a lot weaker now, due to the constant changing of your body. Try not to stay out late at night without wrapping up warm, do you hear me," she ordered rather than questioned. She knew that he knew what she meant.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "I don't go around spending my nights outside you-"

She cut him off with a fierce glare. "What I mean to say is that, if you go solving cases in the dead of night, then you better wrap up warm. Otherwise, you'll catch a cold or a fever."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Yes Mother."

Haibara scoffed. "Fine, let it be on your own health."

...

When Shinichi finally got home, he stepped through the door and inhaled the air around him, releasing it moments later with a satisfied sigh. Closing the door behind him, he took off his coat and placed it on the coat hook. Finding his house slippers, Shinichi toed of his shoes before slipping his feet into his slippers and then made his way to the kitchen.

With a steaming cup of black coffee in hand, Shinichi made his way to the library. Walking into the large room, he went over to one of the middle bookcases before pulling out a 'Sign of Four' book, and then sat in his large leather chair.

Before opening the book, he looked around and smiled to himself, taking in the fact that he was actually back for good. _"Yeah,"_ he thought as he turned to his book again. _"It's good to be back."_

After about an hour later, there was a knock at his door. Shinichi - reluctantly - closed his book and stood from his chair, walking downstairs to the door. With a yawn, he opened it to reveal a smiling Ran. He was slightly confused, "Ran?"

She smiled even wider to him. "Hello, thanks for telling me that you got out of hospital."

Shinichi moved his hand holding the door to the back of his head, "No problem." He realised that that was the wrong thing to say as he remembered that he didn't tell her about the hospital releasing him. He smiled sheepishly to her, in an attempt to cover up his mistake. "Heh, sorry Ran. It slipped my mind."

Ran rolled her eyes, but her smile was only a little smaller. "Well I'm glad you realised your mistake, otherwise I was going to drag you back to the hospital and collect your brain."

He frowned to that. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

She shook her head. "No, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." He raised an eyebrow in question to that. She took no notice and continued, "Anyway, we wanted to welcome you back, as you are back for good."

"We?" It was in that moment that he noticed the carrier bag in her hands. He looked to it and then back to her. "What's that?" He gestured towards the carrier bag in her hands.

Ran lifted up the bag in question, "This is your welcome back home cake. I know, I know, maybe it's stupid, but you were gone for a really long time and you working on that really hard case, so I think you deserve a warm welcome, even if it is only a small one."

Shinichi couldn't stop the smile that made its way to his lips. But he remembered what she mentioned earlier. "Who else is there?"

"Me, Sonoko and Katsu-kun."

He nodded, accepting the guests. "Yeah, okay - Katsu-kun? Who's that?"

Ran sighed, stepping into the house. She gave Shinichi the cake so she could take off her coat and collect herself some house slippers. Taking the cake back, she strolled through the house and into the kitchen where Shinichi just followed suit. Once in the kitchen with her, he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for her to continue. "Anytime today," he pushed slightly, wanting to know of the new person.

Ran opened the cupboard with the small plates and collected the amount of how many people were eating. When she turned around to spread the plates out, she sighed again as she turned to face him, "Shinichi. I mentioned him before, although now that I think about it, the last time we spoke, I referred to him as Nakamora-kun."

Shinichi scanned through his memory to see if the name rang any bells. His eyes widened when he looked back on the conversation he had with Ran whilst he was at the professor's, being Conan and using his voice changing bow tie. "Oh," he began with recognition. "Nakamora Katsu. I remember him now. Sorry, my mind still needs to catch up with me. How long have you two been together now?"

She smiled widely and ran around the island in the kitchen to hug him. "You remembered about him being my boyfriend!"

Shinichi returned her hug with an eye roll, "I remember _now_. He is the one in our class, and the one that's on the soccer team, right?"

She pulled away from him and nodded, her face as bright as the sun, "Well duh, of course." She moved back around the island to start on unwrapping the cake. "He's just at his sister's house before she has her baby, and then he'll be over."

"His sister's having a baby?"

She nodded, "Yes. He was just dropping off some things that he bought for when the baby is born. I told him I'll meet him at your house."

He raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "He knows where I live?"

Ran just chuckled. "Well, I hope he does. I told him the address, I just hope he doesn't get lost."

Nodding, Shinichi took a seat the dining table. "How long have you two been together now?" He asked out of pure curiosity. He had yet to give this boy his full approval before going out with his best friend, who he thought of as a sister.

She tapped her chin, thinking deeply. "A year nearly, I think. Maybe longer." Ran eyed her best friend suspiciously, before sharpening her eyes slightly, "don't even think about it Shinichi. He's a good guy, and he's very loyal, I can assure you."

"That's what you thought about Hondo remember?" He reminded her, folding his hands behind his head.

"Eisuke-kun moved back to the States ages ago," she began, looking through Shinichi's draws for a carving knife. "And besides, I never really liked him like that anyway."

Another knock at the door brought their attention, and Shinichi smirked. Ran looked ready to walk to the door, but Shinichi stood before she had the chance. "That'll be Katsu-kun," Ran said, looking to Shinichi. He just answered her with, "As it's my house, I'll get the door."

She sighed and went back to the cake.

Shinichi made his way to the door, and opened it to reveal a boy his age, kind eyes, short maroon hair which had bangs covering most of the left side of his forehead. Shinichi felt a little guilty for not knowing who he was before, as he was one of the people on his soccer team when he was the captain a few years ago.

Katsu's eyes brightened to seeing the Heisei Holmes. "Kudo-kun!" He beamed.

Shinichi smiled to him, "Hey Nakamora-kun, how have you been?" He asked, stepping to the side to let the new comer in. When he did, Katsu took off his coat and put it on the coat rack whilst Shinichi fetched him some house slippers.

With his house slippers on, Katsu turned to face his classmate. "Shouldn't I be the one to ask you that? I mean, you've missed so much of school!"

Shinichi sighed, "Yeah, I know I have."

"Katsu-kun," came Ran's sweet voice from around the corner. Both boys looked to her, to see her smiling at the pair of them.

"Ran, I was just greeting him inside," Shinichi reassured her, letting her know he wasn't making the boy feel uncomfortable. "You don't have to worry about me interrogating him."

Katsu snickered, whispering to the detective, "She says you're like a brother to her, so it would only be right if you did. She'd probably give a worse beating than you would though, if I _did_ do something to upset her." Shinichi was seeing a comical side to his best friend's boyfriend.

Ran scoffed as she walked towards the two, "I heard that." Even though her tone was supposed to be scolding, she was softly smiling to him as she kissed him on the cheek. Turning to stand between both boys, she placed her hands on her hips. "Shall we go and eat some cake?" When both boys nodded, she began to walk back to Shinichi's kitchen, gesturing for them to follow.

Shinichi suddenly felt like a guest, in his _own_ home. Clearing his throat, he looked to the back of Ran with a raised eyebrow, "Ran."

When they made it back to the kitchen, she walked back to the cake and began cutting. "Yes, Shinichi."

"You _do_ realise that this is _my_ house, right?" He asked whilst Katsu took a seat at the dining table.

She nodded in response, placing a piece of cake on a plate. "Yeah, of course I know it's your house." Shinichi opened his mouth to make a point, but she looked to him and grinned widely, "But you are a very bad host." He looked abashed, again not able to speak as she continued. "Anyway, it was my idea to welcome you back, so don't worry about it."

Sighing, Shinichi just retreated from his beginning argument and sank into his previous chair at the dining table.

It was another ten minutes before Sonoko arrived. Shinichi thought she was late, but Ran reassured him that herself and Katsu were early. She left the boys in the kitchen - purposefully - and went to go and invite Sonoko inside. Shinichi smirked, knowing her too well.

Turning back to Katsu, he laced his fingers together on the table, leaning forward slightly. "So, Nakamora-kun," he began. "How much does Ran mean to you?"

Katsu sat up in his chair, turning a serious and also determined look towards Shinichi, becoming fully engaged, "To tell you the truth," he began, "I've never actually been happier than I have since I've been with Ran-chan. She means everything to me, and I am so grateful that I got to be with someone as amazing as her."

After a moment of silence between them, Shinichi couldn't help but let out a small smile. "Okay, I'll give you both my blessing. But," his expression suddenly turned dark. "If you hurt Ran in any way, or if you _mistreat_ her in any way, shape or form, you'll have to deal with me, all right."

Katsu didn't even realise that he was leaning back, but he was aware of the sudden change in the detective's behaviour. Swallowing nervously, he nodded.

Shinichi's expression almost instantly relaxed into a softer one as he sat back in his chair, "I'm glad we managed to get things understood."

"Get what understood?" Ran asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Before any of them could answer, Sonoko burst into the kitchen. "Oh look, Ran, they're bonding!"

Shinichi and Katsu rolled their eyes.

Sonoko looked to Shinichi, "Welcome back!"

Shinichi smiled to her, "Thanks, Sonoko."

Ran brought the rest of the cake to the table and both of the girls sat down, Ran next to Katsu and Sonoko next to Shinichi. Sonoko set down some snacks that she brought over, and it kind of reminded Shinichi of a tea party, but he kept the thought to himself.

After a while of eating and discussing, Sonoko turned to the detective beside her. "So, are you definitely back for good, Shinichi?"

Shinichi swallowed his mouthful before answering that question. "Yeah, I really am back. Why do people keep asking me that?"

Sonoko shrugged, "Oh I don't know, maybe it's because you disappeared for nearly two years," She pointed out with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh Kudo-kun," Katsu called to him. When Shinichi was looking at him, he carried on. "Do you think you could play for Teitan High's soccer team? We'd love to have you on the team."

Shinichi considered it for a moment before looking to him again, "I'll think about it." After saying that, he felt like he wanted to just jump into soccer again, as it was - besides from solving mysteries as being a detective - one of his favourite hobbies. He thought back on the times of when he and Katsu would play together, with the rest of the Teitan High soccer team. Remembering how kind and thoughtful Katsu was to him and the rest of the team members, made Shinichi realise that he was actually more certain about him being right for Ran. She deserved someone who would treat her right and respect her, and to be honest, Shinichi couldn't think of anyone better. Both he and Ran knew Katsu since middle school, all the way through to high school and so he was assured that Ran had finally found someone perfect for her.

But the problem left was to whether or not he could play soccer, as he still needed to get used to his new body, so maybe, with hard work and training, he could play again.

He was brought out of his thoughts to Sonoko clapping her hands together. The other three teens looked to her, waiting for her excitement to come as words.

Her face was practically beaming with excitement, and that could only mean two things. Either Makoto was coming to visit, or her uncle had gathered a certain notice from a certain someone. Shinichi knew which it was almost immediately. "So," she began, the excitement never leaving her eyes. "Who's going to Kid-sama's heist tonight?"

Ran rolled her eyes, already used to her best friend's devotion to the thief. "Sonoko, I'm not sure we can come tonight."

Sonoko looked to her, almost an expression of betrayal replacing her excitement. "What do you mean you won't be able to come?"

"Well," she looked a little guilty to her best friend before she glanced over to her boyfriend sitting beside her. "Katsu-kun and I are going out for dinner tonight."

Sonoko shook her head. "Why don't you just come along afterwards. I mean," she added in a more happier tone. "The heist doesn't start until eleven tonight, and I doubt you'd be eating at a restaurant past eleven."

When she saw Ran contemplate the idea, she smiled knowingly. "See, you won't have anything to worry about. What time is your date, Katsu-kun?" She asked, looking to Katsu who was listening carefully to the conversation.

Katsu looked to Ran and gave her a small smile, before turning back to Sonoko. "Our date is at seven at the Beika Royal."

Sonoko's eyes sparkled to that information. Even Shinichi's eyebrows lifted with surprise. "Ooh, very classy Katsu-kun. And it's even better than I thought."

Shinichi glanced to her as he swallowed his mouthful of cake. "How so?"

Sonoko didn't turn to him as she laced her fingers together, looking up as if to see the stars through the levels of Shinichi's manor, even though it was daylight. He could practically see her mind dreaming of her precious Kid-sama.

"Because Ran and Katsu-kun are only having dinner around the corner from where the heist will take place." Sonoko squealed as she closed her eyes tight.

After a moment of listening to Sonoko's squeals of happiness, he turned in his chair to face her fully. "Sonoko," he called to her, drawing her out of her dreamy squeals and making her turn to him. "Has anyone deciphered the heist notice yet?"

She looked to him with a quirky eyebrow, as if asking him to be serious. "What do you think?" When Shinichi didn't answer, she snorted. "Of course not, the police don't have a clue. My Kid-sama is too clever to make it easy for them."

Katsu, obviously not use to being one to hear these conversations about how smart Kid is and how the thief always outsmarts the police, raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What did the heist notice say?" He asked, becoming interested and intrigued.

Sonoko reached into her pocket and opened her phone, tapping on a few things before finally opening the site showing the heist note. She placed it in the centre of table for the four of them to see. Shinichi read it with hidden knowledge, also hiding the smirk that wanted to break free on his lips.

 _"So, that's what it is."_ Shinichi thought to himself, already knowing half of what the note was saying.

...

It was five minutes until eleven when Ran and Katsu arrived at the museum. The place was literally just around the corner, like Sonoko had informed.

Whilst Sonoko bombarded Katsu and Ran with questions about how their date went, Shinichi was too busy scanning the area for suspicious people in the crowd. From every fan to every police officer and even to supervisor Jirokichi and Inspector Nakamori. He was so engulfed in his scanning process that he hadn't noticed Inspector Nakamori standing almost next to him, glancing at his watch and calling out, "One minute until Kid shows up!" Shinichi visibly winced to the ringing of his ears after that statement.

Shinichi moved away from the inspector and sighed with relief to feel the ringing of his ears fade into nothing. He looked around for all of the visible exits, possible for Kid to come through or to escape out of and noticed how each entrance was locked with a key card. Only a key card could open it - which would explain the reason for why the leading members of staff and task force members had a key card attached to their pockets. As Shinichi scanned the exits more thoroughly, he gazed over to a door at the far end of the room which was showing a dim light. The door was open just a tad and Shinichi smirked as he - without being noticed and without making it obvious - slowly and silently made his way towards the door.

When he reached the door which was indeed open, he quickly glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone had noticed, before quickly slipping through the door. He made sure to keep it open a tiny bit, so that Kid could escape the way he had planned to, (even though he knew the thief would get through it anyway), and then descended the stairs leading towards the second level of the building. When he reached the other door, he noticed that it leads into a hallway, where there were other doors leading to other places. Reaching a door at the end of the corridor, he opened it to reveal another set of stairs which had a yellow sign saying, 'ROOF ACCESS'. And underneath in smaller red writing, it said 'Authorised Personnel Only'. The metal gate that was supposed to be locked, was - unsurprisingly - open. Shinichi knew exactly why it was open, but he subsided the thought as he quickly made his way up to the roof, hoping to get there before Kid made a run for his exit from the room holding his target.

...

Shinichi was out of breath by the time he had reached the roof - his body not used to the exercise. He was definitely going to work on that when he went back to school - and made sure that no one was in sight before he closed the roof door and leant against the wall beside it. He was panting heavily, but he smiled to feeling the rush of excitement that he always felt whilst chasing Kid on heists.

 _"Well,"_ he thought to himself, gathering his breath and making it more of a steady breathing. _"At least we still get to do this. I'm looking to meeting you in actual person."_

It was another fifteen minutes before the soft patter of hurried footsteps was heard, and Shinichi smirked, ready to make his move to come out of the shadows when the time was right.

Shinichi had moved around the entrance so that he was stood around the side of it, keeping out of sight when the heavy metal door creaked open, the sound vibrating through the wall Shinichi was leant against. He couldn't see the door or who had walked through it for that matter, but he could hear the soft footsteps that were almost like feathers falling onto a lake, the sound almost completely silent unless you listened close enough. Those footsteps only belonged to that of one person.

When the roof door slammed shut, Shinichi chose that moment to step out of his hiding place and into the moonlight. Shinichi couldn't help but admire the way the Phantom Thief practically glistened in the moonlight. Placing his hands in his trouser pockets, Shinichi walked closer to the thief that was holding the newly stolen target up to the moon. "Good evening, Kid," he greeted.

Kid whipped around to face the source of that voice. The thief's face beamed to seeing him. "Meitantei," Kid greeted in return. "You're still grown."

Shinichi stopped when he was only a few feet in front of Kid. He wanted to point out how he seemed to be a few inches taller than Kid, if the thief took off the hat. Burying the comment, Shinichi just nodded. "Yes, the antidote worked. Haibara said that the only main problem is my immune system, which I'm already working on building back up."

"That's good to hear," Kid said, placing a hand on his hip. "I'm glad it worked."

Shinichi's smile and face softened, and his eyes showed nothing but gratitude. "Thank you, Kid. I really appreciate what you've done for me."

Kid just shrugged. "It's the least I could do for my favourite critic." Kid turned away from the detective and stepped up onto the roof's edge, opening his hang-glider and shielding Shinichi from the moon's silver light. Looking over his shoulder, Kid smiled to the eastern detective. "Welcome back... Meitantei," was the last thing that left Kid's lips before the thief fell forward and flew further into the night.

Shinichi felt a flutter into both his chest and stomach as a delicate flush made itself home on his cheek bones. With a soft snicker to himself, he turned away from the moon and to the roof's door. Opening it, he stopped in his steps to look back to the moon. _"Yep,"_ he thought as he released a held breath. _"I've got it bad."_

...

 _ **Author's Note: here we have chapter 2! *facepalms oneself* like it wasn't obvious from what you have just read. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, please feel free to leave me a comment on what you thought. The next chapter is called ''Discussing." Hope you look forward to it.**_

 _ *** MANY KISSES * AMCDeBurgh ^_~**_ __


	3. Chapter 3 - Discussing

_**Chapter 3 – Discussing**_

Like Shinichi had told Katsu, he had to think about the boy's request before he took it on board. And due to him still being in the process of getting used to his new body, Shinichi would need to do a lot until he was ready for playing in a soccer match.

And so, the detective, after thinking it over for a while, decided that maybe, this might help him. It would be good to do something a little grand before leaving school.

When Shinichi accepted the offer, Katsu was already introducing him to the rest of the soccer team. Some of the players, Shinichi knew from his years of playing soccer in middle school and the beginning of high school. Some were new players that must have joined the team during Shinichi's time of "working hard on a difficult case."

He had practised a lot in and out of school, whilst getting to know the team properly. All the training that he was doing had brought him back to all the games that he had played when he was younger, also reminding him of all the nights of when he would send a killer-speeding soccer ball at a certain criminal's head.

It had reached the day before the big game, and Shinichi had to admit - only to himself - that he was slightly nervous. He hadn't played in a game for a long time and so this was a first-time-in-ages experience.

His classmates had given him and his team mates the courage and the encouragement for their last final game. The encouragement helped him, but he was still replaying Haibara's warning in his mind, about him being careful and actually taking care of himself. He also shouldn't overwork himself, but this game might do just that.

So just like Shinichi had said. He would think about Katsu's offer on playing for Teitan High's soccer team, and he did. Going back to school was relieving as he was getting that feel of a normal life again, instead of missing out on everything that was going on.

When Shinichi had walked into his classroom on that Monday, he was greeted with wide eyes of surprise, happy smiles, high fives and hugs. It was not what he was expecting to come back to, but being a well-liked person and disappearing for nearly two years, he was surprised to get bombarded with many 'welcome backs'.

His first morning back was all right. He was getting used to the idea of being back at school and being back in his body to really think about anything else. Well, there was another thing that his mind was occupied on, but he had to work hard on pushing that to the back of his mind.

The soccer team members, who were in his class, gathered around his desk at break that day and asked if he could play on their team. Being the Teitan High's ex-soccer team captain earned him that privilege of playing their last game before they break up from school in a few weeks' time. _"So, Nakamora wasn't the only one, huh?"_ He had questioned in his mind, seeing the pleading looks of people he remembered from being on his soccer team during his younger years of high school.

He had given it enough thought and accepted their offer, which happened to bring them over the moon with joy. That too had been surprising.

So that lead him to now. Shinichi was in Ekoda, in the boys' changing room of where he and his team mates were preparing themselves for their last big game before school ended. Ekoda High School's soccer team were their opposing team, and it was quite interesting because Teitan High had never played against this school before. Shinichi just shrugged, pulling his soccer uniform T-shirt over his head. When he was in his uniform completely - T-shirt, shorts and socks - Shinichi could see that they were made especially for their team, representing them with Teitan High's colours. Blue, white and green. The shirt consisting more of the colour white, with pale blue stripes going horizontal. The shorts were pale blue with green lines on each side. A big number '21' was plastered on the back of his shirt in green. His socks also being a pale blue.

Taking a seat on the bench in front of his locker, he bent down to put on his shoes. As he was finishing tying the last one, a tap on his shoulder called for his attention. Tucking in his laces, Shinichi looked up to meet the face of Katsu. He smiled to him. "Hey, Nakamora-kun."

Katsu's smile grew as he took a place beside Shinichi on the bench. He turned to face the detective. "Thank you for playing for us today Kudo-kun, we all really appreciate it."

Shinichi shook his head, "No. Thank you for inviting me to play." Shinichi laughed breathlessly as he reached to scratch the back of his head, almost nervously. "Although, I can't promise that we will win with me on the team as I haven't played for a long time," he half-lied.

It was Katsu's turn to shake his head. "Once a soccer player, always a soccer player."

Eyes wandering, Shinichi considered the thought, nodding in understanding to the statement. Even after Shinichi had quit being a soccer player, he still kept the skill for a bullseye shot and all of the other skills needed. Hence why he had asked the professor to make him extra powered kicking shoes and a ball-disposing belt, so he had never really left the sport, he just didn't play with a team.

Going back to the conversation with Katsu, Shinichi gave another nod before answering him, "Yeah. I guess that makes sense."

It was at that moment that the booster speakers called out a welcome to the crowd and was ready to announce the schools which were going to be playing today's game. The boys from Teitan High met up with their cheerleaders, who were waiting to give their cheering routine when their school was called, before the players themselves walked onto the freshly cut and marked grass playing field.

After a few moments of waiting, the booster speakers sounded again, calling out Teitan High school.

At the entrance of their side of the stadium, the captain of Teitan High School's soccer team Tsukanai Nao, who was stood beside Shinichi, inhaled a deep breath. "This is it," were the only words he said before their team ran onto the field, bringing back to life the cheering from their side of the stadium.

When Shinichi was on the field, he decided to scan the people who were sitting on the rows of seats on the Teitan High School's side of the stadium, coming across Ran and Sonoko, who were sitting in one of the middle rows. Ran's eyes met his and she waved, the same as Sonoko when she had spotted Shinichi. Shinichi gave them a small wave in return.

Ran suddenly began blowing kisses in his direction, which confused Shinichi, until he turned around in time to see Katsu blowing a kiss back. Shinichi just laughed to himself and at himself, _"I'm such an idiot."_

He turned his attention to the opposing team's side of supporters, and scanned through them until his eyes landed on a girl who, in his opinion, looked bored and didn't want to be there. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she was slouched low in her seat. The girl beside her however was smiling brightly and suddenly looked annoyed when she looked to the bored girl.

Shinichi looked for a couple more seconds and was about to look away before the slouching girl met his eyes and her eyes widened, her expression instantly turning from bored to alert and surprise. The split-second change in the girl's expression startled Shinichi slightly, not expecting it. He suddenly realised why when his mind clicked and he knew the reason for both his own alarm and the girl's. The girl proved his theory right when she quickly snapped her attention to somewhere else on the opposite side of the stadium.

Shinichi just smiled knowingly.

...

The final score of the soccer game was 3-2 to Beika's team from Teitan High School. Ekoda's team were, presumably, annoyed and upset about their loss, as well as many of the people cheering for them.

Some were there to support their loved ones and friends, some were just there to see the match between two teams, (those being lovers of soccer, but not having the time or courage to play and join the team) and some were just there because they felt like they had been brought there without actually wanting to be.

Two girls exited the stadium seats, merging into the leaving crowd. The smaller girl was talking about how the game was interesting and how close Ekoda were to winning, whilst the slightly taller one with long chocolate wild hair was listening with her hands laced behind her head.

"It was a great game though," the smaller girl started. "We still had two goals which is definitely something."

The other girl hummed in acknowledgement, her expression was void of emotion and she looked bored.

The smaller girl sighed, turning dark violet eyes to the slightly taller girl beside her. "Geez, why are you so grumpy?"

The other girl moved nothing but her indigo eyes, glancing towards her friend. "I'm not grumpy, Aoko. I just... don't hold that much interest like you do."

The smaller girl, Aoko, looked to her as if she had something she didn't understand. "Kaiya, seriously, there's something up with you and you won't tell me. Don't you trust me?"

The indigo eyed girl, Kaiya, laughed. "Yes, I trust you, but there's nothing wrong. Honestly, there isn't."

Aoko stopped but Kaiya kept walking, not realising that her friend had stopped until she was a little distance away. Kaiya paused in her steps and dropped her hands from behind her head, "Aoko, are you alright?"

Aoko sighed again, "Okay, so if you're okay, then who did you see that got you all anxious and fidgety in your seat."

Kaiya's eyes widened as she turned to fully face her friend, people moving around them to actually keep going towards the stadium exit. "Oh that, I thought I saw someone I recognised. But it turned out to be someone else."

Aoko glared to her, knowing that her best friend wasn't telling her the truth but she knew that she wouldn't get it out of the girl, so she decided to move on. "Okay, fine, whatever, just remember that I'm always here for you if you ever need to talk about something."

Kaiya's smile was soft when she looked to her, "As I too will be there for you if you ever need me to be."

Aoko returned her smile, "So, we're even?"

Kaiya rolled her eyes but her smile never faded as she nodded to her, "Yeah, I guess we're even."

Aoko released a mocking breath, knowing that she didn't have to. "Thank goodness for that."

Kaiya scowled to her, "Now you're just being dramatic," she huffed, moving back into step with Aoko as they began walking towards the exit again.

Aoko smirked as she flipped some of her hair back, "Uh, excuse me, but if anyone is the drama queen here, that would be _you_."

Kaiya scoffed, puffing out her cheeks. "I beg to differ."

After Aoko had gone to the toilet, her and Kaiya continued walking towards the exit, minding the other people and trying not to get suffocated from the large crowd. Their long journey, well it seemed like a journey judging by how long it took them to get out of the stampede, came to a subtle end when they noticed a small girl with glasses and mousy brown hair tied into two identical ponytails, one each side of her head standing to the side of the crowd.

Aoko smiled brightly to her and waved enthusiastically, "Keiko!"

Hearing the call of Aoko's voice, the spectacled girl turned to her and smiled, waving back. "Hey!" She called back.

When Aoko and Kaiya finally managed to get out of the group and stand with Keiko, Aoko looked to Keiko apologetically. "Sorry that we took so long, the crowd was immense."

Keiko smiled sweetly, nodding. "I know, I could see it from the field."

Kaiya smirked to her, "Nice moves, by the way."

Aoko's face brightened. "I know, you were amazing!"

Keiko's face had grown warm to the comments, "T-Thank you, though I thought that I messed up that second to last back flip," she confessed shyly.

Aoko looked to Kaiya, as if expecting her to answer. After a moment, Kaiya looked to her confused, raising a careful eyebrow. "What?"

Aoko gestured towards Keiko, "Do _you_ think Keiko messed up her last back flip?"

"S-Second to last back flip," Keiko corrected nervously.

"Second to last back flip? Thanks Keiko," Aoko added quickly but casually, as if she didn't make the mistake in the first place.

Kaiya looked to Aoko, gazed towards Keiko and then back to Aoko, "Why are you asking _me_?"

Aoko huffed out a breath, "Because you are great when it comes to acrobatics and somersaults and the like, so you would know if someone had messed up a move or not."

Kaiya was slightly puzzled, but smiled to her best friend anyway, "Ah, I see how it is. That's very sweet of you." She then locked her large indigo eyes with Keiko's dark green. "You were fine all the way through your way routine, but I think you needed just a tad bit more confidence with those last three somersaults."

Keiko sighed but was still smiling, "I was kind of nervous for this game."

Aoko placed her hands onto Keiko's shoulders, making the spectacled girl look to her and meet her dark violet eyes. "You had every right to be nervous. After all, it was Ekoda's _last_ soccer game. Well, the _third_ year's last game. And that also included the third year cheerleaders, so don't worry, you were great out there."

Keiko smiled again, wider this time, and Kaiya could see the pressure falling off her shoulders. "I'm so glad."

There was a moment of Aoko smiling with Keiko, before she quickly gasped and looked down at herself.

Keiko suddenly looked concerned. Leaning forward, she asked, "Aoko, what's wrong?"

"I haven't got my bag," she answered without looking to the mousy haired girl. "I think I might have left it at our seats."

Kaiya shook her head, "No, you had it around your shoulders when we were leaving the seats. I remember, because you got the long strap caught on one of the arms of the chairs."

Aoko covered her mouth to hold back another gasp, dark violet eyes glancing over towards the never ending crowd of people exiting the stadium. "I think I left it in the toilets, and tried to hurry so we could try and get out of the crowd."

Kaiya followed her gaze to look behind herself, the crowd didn't seem to be ending. There were way too many people hunched together and due to how many people had come to see the game, it was an extremely slow process of getting out of the doors.

 _"Aoko would barely make it out of that without getting crushed,"_ Kaiya thought to herself, before sighing hard. Closing her eyes, Kaiya stuffed her hands into her pockets before looking at Aoko and Keiko over her shoulder. "I'll go and get your bag. You two, stay here. Although, I may be a while."

When Aoko stepped forward and opened her mouth to protest, Kaiya had already disappeared into the crowd and was making her way through the people, not bothering with the hundreds of "excuse me'" that she would have said, but she knew that it would be utterly pointless to do so.

Kaiya felt like a ping pong ball, being pushed and bumped from side to side and it was kind of making her feel a bit nauseous. Deciding that it was best to move against the wall, Kaiya changed her direction and cut through the group of people on her left to get to the side of the crowd.

After accidently getting elbowed in the head when she decided to duck down and scurry through the crowd, Kaiya finally made it to the side of the crowd and pressed her back against the wall, side stepping to go the opposite way of where the crowd was headed. She felt the weird looks of some of the people who took the time to notice but she paid them no mind.

Finally, after what felt like a millennium, Kaiya made it to the toilets. All the cubicles were empty, and so Kaiya checked the small hooks on each of the doors. When Aoko's bag wasn't on any of the hooks, Kaiya looked around the rest of the toilets. Her eyes caught the sight of a small dark maroon shoulder bag sitting on the furthest counter next to the furthest sink.

"There you are," she mumbled, feeling a bit relieved that her journey hadn't been a waste of time.

Walking over to the bag, Kaiya opened it and looked to see if anything was missing. Aoko's phone was still in there, so was her door keys and her purse. Reaching into the bag, Kaiya pulled out the purse to make sure that all of Aoko's cards were still in there. Everything was there.

 _"That's a relief,"_ she thought as she placed the purse back in the bag and closed it. Clutching it tightly in her hand, so not to risk losing it once she had just found the bag, Kaiya made a move to exit the toilets. Getting out of the toilets, she took one glance at the exiting crowd and sighed, sagging her shoulders. "Oh, boy," she muttered under her breath, not even bothering to try and find the energy to crawl through that large crowd.

And so, with nothing better to do, Kaiya decided to wait it out until she could at least see the other wall. The sweet scent of pineapple infiltrated her nostrils, drawing her attention to the right of her. Next to the toilets, an arrow was pointing towards a corridor. Above the arrow was the label of "Shower Rooms," giving the reason for the scent and the echo of warmth from the steam that had travelled though the corridor and towards the toilets.

 _"Wow, whoever uses pineapple scented products smells delicious,"_ she mused silently to herself, and then, without warning flushed slightly to what she had just thought. "Okay, that was kind of creepy."

"I've probably witnessed creepier," spoke a voice from the right of her.

Kaiya's instinct instantly kicked in as she resisted the urge to jump at the sound of the voice. Instead, Kaiya turned slowly to only feel her heart stop right there and then due to who was standing there.

Standing only a little distance away was a damp haired and freshly showered Kudo Shinichi. He was dressed in his casual attire, his dirty soccer uniform most probably in the navy blue duffle bag that was slung over his shoulder. He was looking at Kaiya with soft azure eyes, his lips curved slightly into an almost smile.

Kaiya opened her mouth to speak, question, breathe, whatever she could manage. And the only thing that came out was a harsh cough.

Shinichi's expression turned concerned as he stepped closer to her, "Are you, all right?" He asked, voice filled with concern.

After choking on absolutely nothing, Kaiya waved him off, her eyebrows were drawn together slightly as if to play it off as nothing at all, "Yeah, I'm fine." Finally clearing her throat and being able to breathe properly again, Kaiya looked to him, "Sorry about that, you kind of... scared me."

Shinichi's eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs as he stepped closer, looking ready to apologise. "I'm the one that should be saying sorry, I didn't really give a warning." He adjusted his bag strap before glancing over towards the slow crowd. "I'm guessing that you're waiting until _that_ filters out a bit."

Kaiya turned to observe the crowd, seeing that it had emptied out a _tiny_ bit. She sighed, "Yeah, I don't really fancy getting elbowed in the head again."

Shinichi turned his gaze back to her, "You got elbowed in the head?" When Kaiya looked to him, she nodded. "I'm guessing you had to get closer to the ground to get through them, and then I'm guessing you gained the elbow to the head when you tried to stand upright," Shinichi continued, locking bright azure eyes with sparkling indigo eyes.

Kaiya wasn't surprised, due to her knowing who he was and how he earned his title of Great Detective of the East. She was just shocked that he managed to figure that out with the only hint of her getting elbowed in the head. And especially in the way that she had done it.

She must have forgotten to put up her poker face because Shinichi was smirking knowingly to her response. "I'm _also_ guessing that I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" He remarked casually, taking a step closer to her.

Kaiya could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest, worried for herself that she might have a heart attack. Swallowing the lump of nervousness lodged in her throat, Kaiya managed to disguise her nervousness as shyness by reaching up to scratch the back of her head and smiled sheepishly to the detective. "I suppose it was quite obvious then, huh?"

She could only hope that the shy, adorable and timid girl act would work. She couldn't risk him finding out who she was otherwise she would be in a lot of-

"'Obvious' isn't the word that I would use," Shinichi cut through her thoughts. "Normally, any ordinary person would go through the middle of the crowd, saying 'excuse me' multiple times as that it is where the biggest gap can be made. But, from what I saw, you used tactic and decided to defy against the crowd and save time by going against the sides." His lips curved into a dangerous smirk as he added, "Only someone who is used to sneaking around and purposefully mingle in with the crowd would go that way."

"I also noticed how you were watching me during the game," Shinichi stated only a moment later, changing the subject with his soft masculine voice remaining the same.

Kaiya's eyes widened to hearing that. She felt a little uncomfortable with how close he was compared to when he first spoke, so she half consciously stepped back, her foot bumping into the wall behind her. Kaiya flinched to the feeling of being trapped under the detective's gaze, as if he could see into her heart and soul and know almost anything and everything about her.

Even though she wanted to voice her thoughts, Kaiya remained silent so that Shinichi could continue. "When I first saw you looking at me, it was before the game even began and you turned away instantly. And so, at first, I thought nothing of it. But then, I saw you looking at me a few more times and so I grew curious as to _why_." He took one more step closer, Kaiya moving further away and feeling the cold wall press up against her back, and ducked his head slightly as if trying to compose himself. "But... I already knew the reason as to _why_ you were looking at me since the first time I caught you staring."

"And h-how would y-you know that?" She wanted to slap herself for stuttering.

"Because I know the reason just like how I know the reason as to why _I_ was continuously staring at you during the game."

Kaiya wanted to look away, but her eyes were glued onto the detective's in front of her. She barely even noticed as the detective took one final step forward and reached an arm up to place it against the wall beside her head, boxing her against the wall and close to him.

The only thing on Kaiya's mind was the words that he had previously said, _"Don't tell me..."_ she silently pleaded.

Shinichi brought his face closer to hers, "It surprised me to know who you _truly_ are and how you managed to fool everyone so well, for _so long_."

When Kaiya didn't respond, Shinichi moved just the slightest bit closer to her, not enough that they were touching but close enough for them to feel the other's body heat on their own skin. It took everything in Shinichi for him to fight down his blush. It didn't help with the sweet scent of apple filling his nostrils, the smell emanating from the girl in front of him. As much as he wanted to complement the scent, Shinichi knew that it was better not to creep her out.

"But I will have to admit that I was definitely surprised to see the infamous Kaitou Kid sitting in the stadium audience," Shinichi admitted.

Kaiya's blood instantly ran cold, chilling her to her core. The colour drained from her skin as she went into a mental panic. She needed to pull herself together, keep her mindset steady - well as steady as she could manage at that current moment.

Before she could even conjure a coherent thought, Shinichi spoke up again, breaking through her track of thought.

"Also... I was amazed to see that Kid-kun is actually... a Kid- _chan_." It was at that moment when time seemed to come to an ultimate stand still, a harsh tension suddenly growing between them.

Half a minute passed before either of them moved or seemed to begin breathing again. Oxygen is a key thing to survival after all.

Realising that she was backed into a corner with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide, Kaiya let her head drop, the movement was accompanied by her shoulders sagging as well. "So," she muttered solemnly. "How long do I have?"

That broke Shinichi's smirk into a frown, followed by his eyebrows raising slightly to show his evident confusion. "What do you mean?"

When Kaiya answered, she didn't lift her head up. She didn't feel the need to. "How long do I have until I need to leave the country, Meitantei?" There was no point in denying anything when he had her cornered like the way he had at that moment.

Shinichi, realising what he made it seem like, held back a sigh. He took a step back and removed his arm from the wall, placing his hands in his pockets. "Well, if I have anything to do with it, never," he responded softly, hoping to reassure her.

Kaiya's eyebrows came together as she slowly looked up to show him the confusion that was now blatantly showing across her facial features, making her meet his soft azure eyes and small reassuring smile. "Wha..."

"I'm not going to turn you in," he reassured her, though he could tell that she was not persuaded.

Kaiya had to blink a couple of times in order to get her head around what the detective before her had just said, but was still confused. "But, I'm a... and you, you're a... isn't that what you're here for... _why_?"

Shinichi was finding the look of utter confusion on Kaiya's face absolutely adorable. "There are many reasons for me not to. You're not that bad of a criminal. And I think you've probably done more good than you have harm, not to mention that you have also put your life on the line to make sure that everyone around you is safe and unharmed. You are a good person, there is no way I could deny that."

His eyes drifted away slightly as a subtle rose colour blossomed upon the apples of his cheeks, "And besides, I don't think I ever want to see Kid put behind bars. As surprising as this may be, I actually _enjoy_ your company. I enjoy the thrill of the chase and I enjoy the continuous games that we play, it's fun." Shinichi looked around, making sure that no one was near them before continuing. "Your heists are actually my breaks from the world of murder. It's always safe and no one gets hurt, so I can relax. It's my safe haven, in a way."

It was silent between them again, the murmuring sound of the exiting crowd being the only thing to be heard.

When Shinichi looked back to Kaiya, her face had inflamed as she just stared back at him with wide eyes. He waited for a while, waiting for her to say something. When she didn't, he smiled softly before stepping closer to her. Shinichi watched as her eyes followed his, not breaking eye contact once.

"I wanted to meet you, _you_ in person," Shinichi began, looking straight into her sparkling indigo eyes. "I enjoy Kid's company, but I wanted to get to know who Kid was _behind_ the monocle. I would like to enjoy your company as an individual and for who you _truly_ are." Shinichi was surprised that he was still managing to keep his cool, as his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest due to how nervous he actually was. _"What the hell? I've asked a lot of her and what do I expect? Her to just say yes and tell me-"_

"Okay, how about your own personal encounter, Meitantei?" Kaiya asked, breaking the detective out of his mental panic. When he concentrated on her again, he noticed that her cheeks were still red but her lips had curved into an all too familiar Kid smirk, the very smirk that would frighten most of the police force members.

Curving his lips into a smirk of his own, he reached down to grasp her hand, which wasn't holding the bag, and brought it up to place a soft kiss against her knuckles. The action clearly shocked Kaiya as her cheeks were still hot and her eyes had widened even further.

Keeping a hold of her left hand, he met her eyes again to answer, "I'll meet you at Ekoda Station. Saturday, at noon?" He suggested.

She smiled softly before nodding, "I'll see you there."

His smirk grew into a smile of warmth, "I look forward to it, Meikaitou-chan."

...

 _ **Author's Note: Hello there, I hope you enjoyed this story, I enjoyed writing this chapter. Please feel free to leave me a comment and tell me what you thought. The next chapter is called "Acquainted," and I hope you look forward to it.**_

 _ *** MANY KISSES * AMCDeBurgh ^_~**_ __


	4. Chapter 4 - Acquainted

_**Chapter 4 – Acquainted**_

The days leading towards the following Saturday were nerve wracking for Kaiya. She didn't tell Aoko about her meeting with the great eastern detective Kudo Shinichi, not that she didn't want to… just for the fact of her not having the guts to do so. Kaiya still wasn't sure whether she had actually _met_ the detective that she _just_ so happened to fall head over heels for… it seemed too mythological to her, as if she had just met a god. But when she realised that she was thinking like that, she instantly scolded herself for seeming so pathetic. He was just an ordinary guy who was extremely attractive.

The morning of the Saturday came quicker than she expected, as if the past three days of school didn't happen at all. She did the usual things that she did in the morning, but decided that she could sleep in for another couple of hours. So, when she intended on staying in bed until at least 8:30am, she just ended up laying in her bed for nearly three hours before she actually decided to get out of bed.

After eating some cereal and making herself a hot chocolate, she had a shower. After a nice shower, Kaiya wrapped a towel around her middle and left the bathroom to go and choose a suitable outfit. She wasn't one of those girls that would spend hours on end deciding what to wear for the day, or what they should wear that would impress their date/boyfriend – in her case, meet up – as she didn't really care what she wore. Normally she would just throw on something that mixed well and that was also the closest. But, as she also had the subtle chill of spring just around the corner to consider, she decided on black skinny jeans and a thin material blouse that was decorated with a small vine of light blue blossom on the right shoulder.

Once she was ready, Kaiya looked at the time on her watch only to groan when she saw what the time was. She still had an hour before she had to leave. She collapsed on to the sofa in her living room and stretched her legs out, thinking of what she could do to pass the time. After a moment, she jumped up and ran upstairs into her bedroom, going straight for the large portrait of her father hanging on the wall. She gazed into her father's eyes before pushing the portrait inwards to go inside the secret room, walking down the metal spiral staircase. The lights automatically clicking on to her presence.

She didn't make her way to the chair, just as she used to when she first took on her father's legacy of being the magician under the moonlight. Instead, she made her way towards the jukebox and played a random record. She wasn't too sure if she had heard this one or not but she didn't really care, she just wanted to hear her father's voice.

Like most parents – especially fathers, like Kaiya experienced with Nakamori Ginzo when he had found out about Aoko going out with Hakuba Saguru – they will most likely give their daughter a talk. Not _thee_ talk, like Kaiya had heard some of the other girls and even boys in her class talking about. But just a forewarning about what to watch out for when going out on a date with a boy, whoever they might be.

So, turning on the jukebox, Kaiya began to make her way around the room to gaze at all of the things that her father had left behind. She felt herself smiling a little when her father's voice filled the space around her. She couldn't help but smile even wider when she remembered it being the recording of him talking about courage, how she would need it to show against any difficult situation. Kaiya conjured three small red balls and began to juggle them as she continued to listen to her late father's voice. When the recording ended, Kaiya made her juggling balls disappear and went back over to the jukebox to turn it off.

Moving across the room, Kaiya stopped beside the white car, which she would occasionally clean when it got covered in too much dust. Either that or her mother would do so when she came home from her many trips. She placed her hand atop of the side of the vehicle, slowly stroking the cold casing beneath her fingertips. She always wondered about the day that she would finally be able to drive the car herself, as her mother had explained to her that it was actually passed down to her by her late father.

She smiled to the thought, because, in just a few months, she would be able to drive the car out in public. Then again, maybe not as she wasn't too sure whether or not he had driven it when he was Kaitou Kid, full clad in the silk cape and top hat. But she knew that she was able to drive, so it didn't really bother her.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Kaiya looked to her watch to see that she had only been in her father's secret room for twenty minutes. Sighing aloud to herself, Kaiya walked back up the metal spiral staircase and into her bedroom, clicking the portrait of her father back to its original position and making her way downstairs. With just under forty minutes to kill, Kaiya just browsed the web on her tablet.

Forty minutes seemed to pass by faster than she could count, but Kaiya was both glad and even more anxious than she had already been. Grabbing her brown shoulder bag from the opposite sofa, Kaiya made sure that she had everything – phone, purse, keys and card gun (as you never know when the need for it would arise) – and then went to the genkan to put on her black and white high tops, making sure to grab a jacket, before leaving her house.

All through the bus journey to Ekoda Train Station, Kaiya was beginning to feel even more apprehensive the closer she got to her destination. She was trying to imagine it as if she was meeting him as Kid, but knowing that that wasn't true, made her dread this meeting even more.

Kaiya kept asking herself why she was nervous about meeting the Great Detective of the East, she didn't have anything to worry about. Did she? Yeah, she knew that he was aware of her being Kaitou Kid. Yes, she knew that he had many connections with the Tokyo Metropolitan police department. Yes, she knew that he was a detective that could possibly have contacted his friends on the police force, informing them of who Kaitou Kid really was. And, yes, maybe, just maybe… Ekoda Train Station was surrounded by police officers, ready to make their move on her when she got close enough to the detective.

With an inward groan of dread, Kaiya closed her eyes and let her head fall none too gently onto the bus window beside her. The adolescent magician decided that she just needed to take the detective's word for it and have faith in both _him_ and his word. Then, if things went well today, Kaiya and her favourite critic might get the chance to spend more time together outside of heists.

Of course, Kaiya wanted to spend more time with Meitantei, but it was only if the detective him-self wanted to _actually_ spend time with her as a person. Not just someone who could give him a good explanation and have the case of Kaitou Kid solved and the criminal behind bars. So, what was _really_ needed in this meeting was trust. If she couldn't trust the detective, then she would definitely flee the country.

But, for some reason, thinking about that now, Kaiya remembered what he had said when they first met at the stadium. When she questioned about how long she would have to leave the country and he had said that he didn't want to see her behind bars. He wasn't saying it deceitfully, which she had first expected, leaving her surprised. He sounded honest and true to his word, like he had stated something that couldn't have been anything but the truth. That also gave her faith.

And then her doubt seeped into her mind again, suddenly reminding her that he was still a _detective_. Grimacing to that fact, Kaiya decided that she actually hated her mind.

The bus stopped just beside the entrance to the train station, the creaking brakes of the large vehicle jolting Kaiya out of her thoughts. Thanking the driver, she stepped off the bus and walked into the train station, in search for a specific person.

Just to be safe, and also to reassure herself that she didn't need to run right out of there, Kaiya glanced around, surveying the many people spread out around the station. She looked out for dis-guised police officers, who wouldn't be acting as casual as the next person. They wouldn't be completely alert, but they would be alert enough to keep an eye out for any suspicious characters. But seeing none, Kaiya relaxed.

Well she _was_ relaxed until she spotted the oh-so-familiar cowlick atop of the head of glossy chocolate hair that made Kaiya just want to run her fingers through. Seeing Shinichi standing against the wall, casually leaning against it as he checked his recognisable stun dart watch, made Kaiya seem as if she was seeing him for the first time. He was just waiting there, calm and collected. He wasn't smirking with a snarky comment or wearing a smug smile that she had grown used to seeing before having to dart away from a hellish soccer ball being shot her way. He was just... waiting.

Suddenly, Kaiya felt like this was the worst idea she could have _ever_ agreed to in her life and decided to turn and run out of the station. Turning around, Kaiya thought of a lie that she could text to him, maybe saying that she was unable to make it, before she disappeared.

"Hey," called a voice behind her, freezing her on the spot. Turning around slowly, she sees that the detective is only a little distance away from her, soft azure eyes meeting her brilliant indigo ones and a warm grin curving his lips.

Recovering from her shock, Kaiya smiled back to him (hiding her nervousness behind her poker face) and rubbed the back of her head. "Hi. Sorry I'm late, I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

The eastern detective shook his head, the smile never leaving his lips as he stepped closer to her. "No, I've just arrived. How long were you waiting?"

"Just got here myself," Kaiya responded with more calmness than she thought was possible at that moment.

Shinichi nodded, "That's good to hear." He stepped closer to her again and gently grasped her hand, gesturing her towards the exit of the train station, "Shall we?"

…

As Shinichi was more or less new to Ekoda, Kaiya brought them to a café that she and Aoko had been in a couple of times, the food and drinks were good too. When the pair were directed to a table for two, the waitress gave them a knowing look before leaving them to decide what they wanted. Kaiya ordered a hot chocolate and a bowel of chocolate ice cream, whilst Shinichi ordered a black coffee with a slice of lemon pie. The waitress nodded, walking away after she smirked to the pair again.

When they were given their drinks, they were told that their pie and ice cream were nearly ready by the waitress before she disappeared again. The silence between them was tense before Shinichi spoke.

"This place is nice," he commented, taking a sip of his coffee. _"And so is their coffee,"_ he added silently to himself. Placing his coffee back on the table, he met Kaiya's eyes. "So, introductions. I'm Kudo Shinichi, detective." When Kaiya didn't know what to say or do in response to that, Shinichi leant closer to her, "And you are?" he questioned softly, holding his hand out.

Kaiya met his eyes before looking away, but she did reach across the table to meet his hand in the middle and shake it. "Kuroba Kaiya, magician," she introduced, wanting to hit herself for sounding so shy. Kaiya looked around the café. "Yeah, my friend and I have been here a couple of times," she agreed to the detective's earlier comment.

Shinichi looked to the girl in front of him, observing the fact that she was avoiding eye contact. He then also noticed that she seemed to be looking around the place, both inside and outside of the café, as if she was waiting for someone or even something to turn up. That was when he realised that she was most probably feeling vulnerable with her being sat opposite a detective, who could have called the police to corner her and take her away whilst wearing those pretty cheap bracelets that were specially made for criminals to wear. Wow, it seemed that criminals had a designer brand of jewellery dedicated to just _them_ , how lovely of law abiders.

Wanting to reassure her, Shinichi placed his elbows on the table to lean closer to her. "There isn't any need for you to worry, I didn't call the police," he paused when her head snapped to look at him in shock. He smiled reassuringly, "You're safe, I promise."

The magician looked at him for a few more moments before letting out a little huff, closing her eyes as she leant back in her seat. "Well, you can never be _too_ careful, can you? And, let's be honest, can you blame me?"

Shinichi shook his head, "No, it's understandable."

Kaiya gave a nod towards his understanding, "Good, I'm glad."

"It's good to see you again," the detective admitted suddenly, evidently surprising the magician.

Kaiya only glanced away again, deciding to take great interest in her hot chocolate. "It's good to see you too. How are you anyway, I never got the chance to ask before?" she queried, turning the direction of their subject.

The eastern detective shrugged, "I am a lot better, thanks. That soccer game was probably the most invigorating thing that I've done since taking the antidote. Which, again, I only have _you_ to thank for that."

It was then Kaiya's turn to shrug, "It was the least I could do for my favourite critic."

Shinichi was about to reply, but that was when their food came. They thanked the waitress and watched her leave before turning back to face each other, before looking to their food. Shinichi picked up his fork, Kaiya doing the same with her dessert spoon. Kaiya couldn't help but watch the detective take a mouthful of lemon pie and see his eyes widen to the taste, the sight only making her chuckle. "Nice?" she questioned.

He nodded, finishing his mouthful before answering her. "Yes, it's really nice. How's your ice cream?"

That made Kaiya laugh, "I normally order this, so I _presume_ it's nice. But some days, it tastes better or worse. But still, it's nice."

"Then let's hope that it's better today," the detective hoped, taking another mouthful of his lemon pie. Again, Kaiya's eyes widened slightly to his comment.

She wanted to take another spoonful of her ice cream, but sensed that this meeting of theirs was for another reason. Kaiya also felt like it was too… peaceful. Though knowing that she was also the one that agreed to this meeting, she couldn't really question him about it. So, she decided to just see how it went, living the time as it passed.

The detective glanced over towards her, frowning, "It's going to take a lot for you to trust me completely, isn't it?"

Indigo eyes met azure eyes, staring back at him with puzzlement. "It's not that I don't _trust_ you, not really, it's just… well…" she trailed off, not knowing how to continue.

"I promise you, there isn't any trick or trap being used or planned here," Shinichi explained, leaning forward a little so that he could whisper to her. "I meant what I said at the stadium. I truly wanted to get to know the person behind the monocle, I wanted to know you better as a person. I know that it seems hard to believe, but it really _is_ the truth. I really do want to get to know you as you truly are. No lies." He paused to look into her eyes, showing that he actually was being honest. "I know it's a lot to ask of you, but I really hope that you'll be able to trust me."

To that, Kaiya just stared, stunned by his speech before letting out a little chuckle. Smirking a little, she too leant forward. "If that's the case, then you're in for a wild ride."

The detective gave her his own smirk in return, "I look forward to it."

"Who knew the Great Detective of the East was such a flatterer," she teased, earning herself a rosy flush from her favourite critic.

Shinichi lowered his head, now being the one to avoid _Kaiya's_ gaze. "I was just being honest."

Kaiya, feeling more confident with herself, placed her elbow on the table and placed her chin in her hand, smirking cunningly to the detective opposite her. She was quite happy that she man-aged to get the detective to lose his wit and confidence due to her teasing.

That was when a thought suddenly sprung to her mind, reminding her of their first encounter at the stadium. Shifting a little in her seat, the magician tilted her head to the right, regarding the detective with both curiosity and suspicion. "Hey, I've got a question." When Shinichi looked up from his now half eaten pie to give her his full attention, Kaiya continued. "You said, when we met at the stadium, that you were surprised to find out that I was actually a girl."

"Yes, I was," Shinichi affirmed, nodding.

"But… _how_ did you find out? And how long have you known?" she questioned, looking him dead in the eye. "And I want the _truth_ , Meitantei."

Kaiya was only expecting the detective to feel a little uneasy, but she wasn't expecting him to blush bright red and look down so that his bangs were shadowing his eyes. She could only admit that she was flabbergasted to the sight.

Shinichi exhaled quickly, still keeping his eyes away from meeting hers. "I only found out by accident, I swear, I didn't mean to." He paused to take a breather, slowly looking up to her timorously. "Do you remember that heist of the Lady Sky jewel on Suzuki Jirokichi-san's airship?"

Kaiya remembered it almost instantly, "Oh yeah, the one where those terrorists hijacked the airship to get back at old man Suzuki?"

Shinichi nodded, "Yes, well it was then that I… found out." Taking in a deep breath, he carried on before she could speak, "It was when you had just flown us back up to the airship, but because the wind was too strong we lost control. And, so, not knowing what else to do as we were running out of options fast, I went to reach for the button to close your glider… but as it was a large struggle, I kind of felt that you didn't… you didn't have…" he seemed to stammer on the rest of that sentence, so he decided to move on. "When I couldn't find the button, I tried as quick as I could manage to reach into your pocket and grab your grapple gun… but that was when I felt that you had a slight… bulge…" the more he spoke, the hotter and redder his face became. He felt like such an idiot, also feeling horrible for what he had unintentionally done, realising how bad it _actually_ sounded when it was said out loud.

Kaiya was trying her best, thankfully she managed to put up her poker face before she wasn't able to do so, to keep herself from either hiding herself or smacking the detective before her. Her cheeks were dusted in a lovely crimson colour as she took in the information that she had just been enlightened with, not knowing what to say that would be an _okay_ response. But looking at the eastern detective, she could tell that he was beating himself up over it. And that made her smile a little.

" _So, Meitantei has known since then?"_ she silently asked herself. "I will have to admit, I'm surprised and… slightly horrified." She sighed, knowing that this conversation took a turn for the worst _very_ quickly. "Does anyone else know about my gender?" she whispered to him, placing a hand to side of her mouth.

Shinichi raised his head to face her, his face calming to just his cheeks being reddened. "No one."

The magician sighed with relief, "Good, let's keep it that way." She smiled suddenly, "Don't beat yourself up over it. Yes, it was wrong of you, but it happened ages ago. And if it helps you sleep at night, I forgive you."

The detective smiled back to her, though his was a little more shy and timid. "Thanks. I honestly didn't mean to do it, it truly _was_ an accident, I swear-"

Kaiya held up a hand, silencing him. "I said it's okay, and I already forgave you." Her expression instantaneously turned from one of reassurance to daring as her eyes narrowed, "But, if you ever, and I mean, _ever_ , mock or tease me about that, then I will make your life hell." She suddenly changed to bight and happy, a wide smile on her lips and she looked to him sweetly and innocently, "Okay."

Shinichi was stuck between whether or not he should flinch, blink or gulp. It seemed that he did all three of those as amusement was clearly evident in the girl's eyes. He nodded hurriedly, "Yep, I will definitely keep that in mind."

The two discussed further, finishing their food and drinks, getting to know one another. Kaiya already knew a lot about the detective, but it was the aforementioned detective that was doing most of the learning. The tension between them was barely even there when they left the café, Kaiya relaxing a great deal as she and Shinichi walked around for a bit, talking all the while.

It was nice, the both of them decided silently to themselves, not admitting it to each other. But, by their sharing smiles, it seemed that the pair already knew that the other was enjoying their time together.

Knowing that she had to be at Aoko's house for 6pm, Kaiya explained that she was having dinner at her friend's house to Shinichi, who nodded with understanding. They walked towards Ekoda train station, planning on going their separate ways.

When they reached the entrance, Shinichi turned around to face the teenage magician. Kaiya just smiled to him, "I really enjoyed myself today, thank you, Kudo-kun."

Shinichi shook his head, "It was my pleasure. And just call me Shinichi, please. You've known me long enough and I feel like I know you more now than I ever did."

Kaiya raised a sly eyebrow, "Hmm, are you trying to be a gentleman? I swear that's in _my_ job description," she teased, grateful to gain a smirk from the detective. It was still relieving to know that they could still do their usual casual banter, now outside of heists.

"Well, I thought I did okay," he murmured, scratching the back of his head.

The magician smirked, "Well, as a professional myself, I can say that you did pretty well."

The both of them just looked to each other before they burst out laughing. When they collected themselves, Shinichi glanced towards the train station before looking back to the magician in front of him. "Would you like to do this again sometime?" he offered, silently hoping that she would say yes.

Kaiya hummed in thought, before smiling to him, "Yeah, I'd like that."

Shinichi's smile widened, "So I'll see you next time, Kuroba-chan."

The teenage magician nodded as she turned to walk and get her bus, "Yep, see you next time. Oh, and by the way, it's Kaiya. See you later!" she called out the last part as she rushed to get to her bus, whilst at the same time waving at the detective, who was waving back. When they weren't in each other's sights, Shinichi turned to walk back into the station. Kaiya sat in one of the seats on the side of the bus that was furthest away from the train station entrance, looking out the window. They both hoped that their next meeting would be soon.

…

 _ **Author's Note: Hello, thank you for all of your comments, I'm so glad you like this story. I was really nervous about writing this, knowing how good loads of other fanfic writers are of Detective Conan and I kind of feel like an amateur, but I'm glad I'm doing well which is a relief, Phew *wipes sweat of brow*. I forgot to write this in the end of last chapter, but the full summery of this story is on my profile, so if you're interested, go and have a read of it to gain a little more knowing about the story.**_

 _ **Also, the name meaning for 'Kaiya', is quite complicated. Originally, I chose the name 'Kaiya' for Fem!Kaito because it meant forgiveness, and Kaito is quite a forgiving person so I though it fit. But then I did some extra digging, and oh my god, there are so many ways it can be written. So I decided to go with writing it like this: Kaiya**_ _ **佳夜**_ _ **(**_ _ **佳**_ _ **(excellent, beautiful),**_ _ **夜**_ _ **(night)), which I believe suits Kaito well as both a person and for the character.**_

 _ **I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, because I enjoyed writing it. If you liked it, then consider dropping me a review as I would love to know what you think. The next chapter is called "Confessions," so I hope you look forward to it.**_

 _ ***MANY KISSES* AMCDeBurgh ^_~**_


	5. Chapter 5 - Confessions

_**Chapter 5 – Confessions**_

Shinichi had never been the same after that soccer game. He was still the same character that he had always been, sarcastic and collected, but for some reason, he just seemed… different. Though it wasn't that noticeable to his classmates, as they just thought that he was different due to being out of school for nearly two years.

But it didn't go unnoticed by Ran.

Of course, after being gone for nearly two years, Ran was glad that her best friend was back. She was also glad that he was back at school, for definite this time. It was also reassuring to know that he was back because as she had missed him.

She had noticed the change when they were at school, the first day back from the weekend after the soccer game, which she had noticed only tiny fragments of his change in character. Normally, he would always be making conversation with either her, Sonoko or those around him. Just the usual chatter, about where he had been for so long, and what kind of case he had been working on for the amount of time that he was away. The thing that Ran noticed was the lack of collectiveness that he always carried with him. It kind of made up his personality, it made it one of his traits as a person.

But some reason, Shinichi seemed to be looking outside the window, or caught in a gaze, staring into space. And that was something Kudo Shinichi _never_ did. And so, Ran couldn't help but grow concerned about him. Was he _really_ okay? Did he have to go away again, but was too busy thinking of a way to tell her? As he definitely wasn't telling _her_ if there was something on his mind that was worth raising concern about. Unless he didn't want to tell her as he didn't want to make her worry.

Although, now that she thought about it, she just seemed paranoid.

But it was better to check with him, so then if there _wasn't_ anything to worry about she could just rid herself of her paranoia, then to not check with him and regret it later if he _did_ go away again.

So, Ran decided that at lunch, she was going to confront Shinichi about it.

When the bell for lunch rang throughout the school, Ran watched as Shinichi stood from his desk, ready to go to the canteen to get some lunch and concluded that now would be the best time. It would give them the time to talk about this.

Standing from her own desk in a hurry, Ran made quick steps towards Shinichi's desk. When she was beside the detective, she swiftly grasped his arm and began pulling him out of the classroom, taking him to the one place where she would get peace and quiet from the rest of the school.

Shinichi was indubitably confused to the sudden action, not expecting anything like this from Ran. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, ready to question her about why, but didn't get the chance to as he was precipitously pulled out of the classroom. He was making failed protests as he was suddenly being dragged up the stairs leading towards the top of the school.

When they reached the roof, Ran hurriedly let go of his arm to shut the door behind them. Seeing that no one else was on the roof as well, Ran met his eyes, her own being filled with seriousness with a slight sense of concern.

Inhaling deeply, she began, "Okay, Shinichi. I understand that you have been away from school a long time, and I get that coming back after so long was or _is_ hard. But, I want you to answer me _honestly_. No lying. Got that?" she questioned, soft violet eyes narrowing to the last part.

Shinichi, not really wanting to get on her bad side, nodded and waited for her to continue.

"Okay, well, I just wanted to ask you…" she paused, not actually knowing what to ask exactly. "Are you okay? And I mean it, I want the _truth._ "

The detective was surprised, his eyebrows raised a little as he stared at her. After a moment, he snickered, "Yeah, of course I'm okay. Why do you ask?"

It was Ran's turn to raise an eyebrow, "I'm serious, Shinichi."

"So am I," he answered back, a smile of reassurance curving his lips. "I _am_ fine."

Ran threw her hands in the air, slowly losing her nerve to keep her cool. "It's just… it's just that you seem different, so I got worried. But then we had the game, and then you were busy over the weekend so I didn't see you, but this week I noticed that you have _definitely_ changed and I don't know what it is. Do you have to go away again?"

"What? No, of course I don't. I already told you-"

"Okay then, is there something that you need to tell me about, but you haven't found the courage to tell me to my face?!" Ran asked, becoming impatient.

Shinichi shook his head, "Ran, calm down. Honestly, I don't have to go away again, I already told you that, so please," he stopped to step up to her and gently grasp her upper arms and meeting her eyes. "Stop worrying."

Ran held his gaze for a few more moments before closing her eyes and sighing, sagging her shoulders in the process. "I'm sorry, but I can't help _but_ worry. You were gone for so long and you seem to forget that I _know_ you, Shinichi." She looked up to meet his eyes again, "I know that you're hiding something from me. And it hurts me to know that you won't tell me what it is."

"Ran, there is nothing wrong, with _me_ or anything, I promise you." He reassured, smiling a little. Letting go of her arms, he placed his hands in his blazer pockets before moving around her to walk to the door. Opening it, he stopped to turn to her, "Are you coming?"

Ran, feeling a little too paranoid and a little defeated, turned around to walk with him back into the school. It was then that she suddenly has an epiphany, piecing together everything that she had noticed about Shinichi throughout the past two days. He was constantly staring into space, continuously looking at his phone and occasionally smiling when he did so, he would barely make conversation with anyone… a delightful smile spread across her face with realisation.

She realised that she was asking all of the wrong questions. She shouldn't have been asking _what_ was wrong with him. She should have been asking _who_.

Adamant to her own theory, – as it made the most sense out of everything that she had thought of before – Ran quickly stepped up to Shinichi, who was just about to disappear through the roof doorway, and grabbed his arm, yanking him back onto the roof with her.

Without giving him the chance to question her, she immediately blurted out, "Who is it?"

The eastern detective, shocked to such a question, raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Ran placed her hand on her hips, leaning forward slightly, her expression knowing. "Who is it that you're seeing?"

Just as Ran had expected, Shinichi started avoiding her eyes and was growing red in the cheeks. "I'm not seeing anyone," he feebly denied, azure eyes keeping well away from her soft violet ones.

Ran couldn't help but feel extremely happy as she smiled even wider than before and stepped closer to him, enveloping him in her arms and surprising the detective. "Oh, thank goodness, I thought that you might have fallen ill, or that you needed to go away again. But I'm so glad that it isn't anything bad." Pulling away from him, she chuckled to seeing his bewildered expression. "There's no point in acting shocked or confused, as I know you, Shinichi. You seemed to have forgotten that."

There's a moment of silence between the two, but Ran just continued to stare at him knowingly, not letting him get out of this one. And knowing that he wouldn't be able to, Shinichi just sighed. But he still didn't say anything, which Ran was okay with because his silence was his answer anyway.

So instead of words, Ran just hugged him again, "Finally, my _little brother_ is in love with someone."

Shinichi drew back from her, "Little brother? Seriously."

The girl just shrugged, "Well, yes. And anyway, I'm older than you by nearly a month so… yeah, little brother. Problem?"

He just shook his head, "I hope you don't make a habit of calling me that."

Ran smiled again, "Already did, but don't worry, you'll only need to start acting a little bit more mature for me to stop."

"Excuse me? I _am_ mature," he defended, not liking the fact of himself being referred to as a child anymore, especially now that he was back to his original form and Edogawa Conan was now behind him.

"The fact that you didn't ignore that comment about your maturity and had to argue, proves to me otherwise," she surmised, lifting an eyebrow for effect. That only made Shinichi groan with annoyance.

Her smile came back again within the next split second, as she slapped his arm playfully, suddenly excited. "So, come on, spill. Who is it?"

Shinichi really wanted to tell her about Kaiya, but he seemed way too nervous to do so. It was just that he wanted to get to know Kaiya a bit more, for who she was as a person, before telling people about her. He understood how nervous she had been with meeting him that one time, and that was just a day around town. He too was nervous, but he was going to be patient for her sake.

Again, his silence was his answer to her question.

Placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, she met his eyes, seeing the unease in them. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me now," Ran said softly. She could see that talking about them was making him nervous, so she didn't want to pressure him into telling her. She just needed to have faith that he would tell her when he was ready. "And you don't have to rush off into anything, but if you do _truly_ love someone, then make a move and go after them," she advised.

Shinichi regarded her with surprise and confusion, "Ran, why did you tell me that?"

"Because I want you to know that not every opportunity is open forever," she answered confidently. "And I want you to be happy, so please, don't waste this chance. If you enjoy being with them, whoever they are, then go for it. If you wait too long, then that chance will get taken away from you."

The detective suddenly smiled to her, feeling a warmth fill in his chest to her words. Hugging her again, he whispered to her, "Thank you, Ran."

Ran smiled her usual kind smile and patted his back softly, "Your welcome."

…

In Ekoda High School, Nakamori Aoko was watching her best friend with concern, not entirely sure how to approach the teenage magician. Aoko had noticed the slight change in her best friend's behaviour a little after the soccer game against Beika High.

For some reason, she had seemed a little grumpy during the game, but like the magician said, it was just because she wasn't a fan of the sport. And so, Aoko had let it slide. But it was later on that she noticed the girl's character change, only noticing the subtlest of signs.

When Kaiya had gone to collect Aoko's bag from the toilets at the stadium, she was gone for a while which made Aoko worry. Was she okay? Did she get hurt whilst trying to get through the large crowd? Questions had flooded Aoko's mind, not knowing whether her best friend was actually okay or not.

But she had felt so much relief when the teenage magician had filtered through the crowd towards her. When she had thanked her for retrieving her bag, Aoko had noticed that Kaiya seemed a little nervous about something. And of course, the girl didn't tell Aoko anything, just giving the excuse of there being nothing wrong.

But now, Aoko was almost approaching desperate, because it was making her nervous as she kept looking towards her best friend.

Kuroba Kaiya was either sitting at her desk, looking outside, or scrolling through her tablet not really paying attention to what was going on in the class. She wasn't even aware of how nervous she was making her entire class.

The other students remained on the edge of their seats, prepared for the teenage prankster to do something, _anything_. When the girl would sigh and turn away from the window to look back to the teacher so that she could take notes down, the teacher would instantly be aware of her paying attention, so that also made the teacher nervous, nervous to the point that she would flinch when Kaiya so much as moved in her seat.

The only one who seemed unbothered by it all was Koizumi Akahiko. The red eyed boy just sat in his seat, not taking any notice of the nervous atmosphere that had managed to settle in the classroom within the past week. But if he knew the reason for the magician's odd behaviour, then he wasn't saying anything.

Hakuba, who was normally Kaiya's favourite victim when it came to her pranks, didn't know whether to be pleased or unnerved by the fact of the magician not pulling her usual pranks. But when he noticed the unsettlement from his classmates, who knew Kaiya a lot longer than he did, Hakuba knew that something needed to be done.

Leaning forward a little, Hakuba gently tapped Aoko on the shoulder, causing the girl to glance at him from over her shoulder. "Aoko-chan, I don't mean to impose, but I think we should do something about Kuroba-chan, as it is making everyone else feel uneasy."

Aoko, knowing that the English detective was right, sighed. She also knew that if anyone was going to get it out of Kaiya, then it would have to be her. Turning back to him, Aoko nodded. "I'll talk to her in the next break, because it's bugging me as well."

So, the inspector's daughter decided that when the bell rang for their next lesson, she would get up and drag Kaiya out of the classroom, literally, in order for her to confront the magician. Which is exactly what she did when the bell rang. Aoko stood form her desk, informing her boyfriend that she would be back as soon she got the truth out of the magician, and stalked over to her best friend. Once beside Kaiya, Aoko grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, which only earned her protests from the magician that she was pulling behind her, which she skilfully ignored.

Aoko, completely ignoring all of the comments and complaints that the teenage magician was thundering towards her, let go of her best friend's hand to turn around and face the now annoyed teen.

Kaiya rubbed her previously grasped wrist with her spare hand, glaring to her best friend. "What the hell, Ahoko! What was _that_ for?!" she fumed, her glare unfaltering.

Aoko just ignored the insult and crossed he arms over her chest, regarding the girl before her with seriousness. "Believe it or not, _that was_ necessary, _BaKaiya_."

Kaiya let go of her wrist to fold her arms, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, course it was." There was a moment of silence between them, but was broken by Kaiya. "If there _was_ a _good_ reason for that little stunt, then I would _love_ hear it."

Aoko groaned, "Alright, you really want to know?"

The magician gave a nod, "That's what I just said."

Sighing, Aoko stepped closer to the girl she grew up with and who also felt more like a sister to her than a best friend. "Kaiya, is everything all right?"

"Yeah of course," the magician answered confidently, poker face falling faster than she could think. "Why do you ask?"

"Well… you've been acting a little… out of character for the past few days," Aoko admitted, trying to sound as assertive as she wanted to. "And it's got everyone worried. Well, especially _me_."

The teenage magician was speechless, just holding Aoko's gaze with widened indigo eyes.

When Kaiya didn't say anything, Aoko continued, "And don't even bother denying it, Kaiya. I know there's something different about you because you haven't pulled any pranks in class. Not even _one_ , which is definitely saying something when it comes to _you_. You're not your usual cheerful self. And for the past few days, you've looked down, or even sometimes lost." Aoko stepped close enough so that she could place a hand on Kaiya's folded arms. "I'm worried about you, so please tell me. What's wrong?"

Kaiya couldn't believe what she was hearing, _"Was I really_ that _obvious?"_ Knowing that she had let her true emotions slip through her poker face was a great surprise to her. She didn't even realise that she was so deep in her feelings for that damn detective, that it was affecting her at school, where she had tried her upmost hardest to _not_ think about him and that meeting that they had on the weekend prior.

The teenage magician opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, not knowing exactly what to say. Inhaling deeply, she met her best friend's dark violet eyes, ready to explain. "I… I didn't mean to worry you, I really didn't. It's just that… I've been pretty preoccupied lately, that's all."

Aoko narrowed her eyes at the girl before her, "Well it can't be about us leaving school soon, as you're way too thrilled to leave. It can't be about the last of our exams, because you're well above many others in the higher class and you've also known about them for months." When Kaiya was ready to but in, she quickly continued, "But you've only been acting like this since… the… soccer… game…" she trailed off, thinking back to when this change of behaviour first started and it was _at_ the game. But nothing major happened really on that day. Yeah, their school lost, but it wasn't like Kaiya cared about that because she wasn't really a fan of the sport. She was only there for the same reason as Aoko was: to support Keiko and their team.

Aoko then began thinking of what had happened _after_ the game ended, when they met up with Keiko… then Aoko lost her bag, Kaiya went to go and find it for her, which she took a _while_ in doing so. Back then, Aoko didn't think about it because it was such a large crowd, so it was no surprise that it would have taken the girl longer than expected to get in and out of it, even for Kaiya. Though, now that she thought about it, Kaiya was long enough to have met someone- Aoko's eyes widened to the size of saucers, quickly snapping her head to gawk at the magician, the action making Kaiya worry for the condition of her spine since she moved so fast.

"You met someone, didn't you?!" Aoko exclaimed accusingly.

Kaiya's entire body stiffened to those words. Kaiya knew that her friend was clever, but to figure something like _that_ out was just… _what?_

Aoko was suddenly beaming with excitement, managing to intertwine their fingers together as she brought her face close to Kaiya's, nose to nose. "You did, didn't you? It's the only explanation that actually makes sense for your recent change in behaviour. And as it's _you_ , I know that you wouldn't just settle for _anyone_. And for the thought of them to make you act like this, then they _must_ be someone special."

Kaiya raised an eyebrow, still maintaining their position of nose to nose as they had done this millions of times before when they were discussing something that required maximum privacy. "Are you saying that I can't get _anyone_ just because I wish to?" she whispered in her own defence.

Aoko giggled, shaking her head. "No. I _know_ that you could get anyone, if you actually chose to, but that isn't who you are. So, whoever this person is, is obviously someone that you can't take your mind off."

This time, Kaiya was the one to smile. "I feel like you've known me forever," she commented, knowing that the girl who was still holding her hands most probably did know her better than anyone. Just like how Kaiya knew Aoko better than anyone.

Aoko cheekily winked to her, placing her forehead against the magician's, "That's because I basically have." Her expression suddenly turned disheartened, "Although, I'm still a little peeved that you didn't confide in me, or even _trust_ me enough to tell me that you met someone."

Kaiya sighed, not caring that she huffed over her best friend's face, making the other girl's hair wave against her face. It was another thing that the pair of them would do to each other before it turned into a full-blown huffing contest. "I've only met them once and I don't really know them that well," (she lied, knowing that she knew the detective _pretty well_.) "So, I decided to wait until I got to know them a little better before telling you that I _met_ somebody. Get what I mean?"

Being the understanding girl that she was, even though she sometimes would replace that understanding with anger, Aoko nodded and smiled warmly to her. "Yeah, I get what you mean. But _next_ time, don't hold back on me, okay. You _know_ that I'll always be there for you." Aoko let go of the magician's hands to envelope her in a hug, waiting until the other returned the hug to continue. "I'm not going to pressure you into telling me _who_ it is, because I know you'll tell me eventually. But, I will say this," she paused to pull away from the magician, looking into her sparkling indigo eyes. "When I get to meet them, I'm going to have a word with them. And there's nothing you can do to stop me from doing so."

Kaiya just shrugged, "Of course, by all means, go ahead. It's only fair since I did the same thing to Hakuba."

Aoko only seemed to cringe at the memory of that, "Yes, maybe. But I won't be as _drastic_ as you were to Saguru-kun."

"Drastic?" Kaiya questioned, disbelieving the word that had just been used to describe _her_ talk with the British detective. "I think I was pretty reasonable with him. If anything, I wasn't hard _enough_ on him."

"Yeah, because warning him that if he were ever to hurt me, then you would permanently die his hair a luminous green and give him a face tattoo, the tattoo being the most horrific thing you can think of at the time." Aoko recalled with mock amusement.

Kaiya just nodded with pride, "Yep, and I meant every word." That just earned a sigh from Aoko.

"Anyway," Aoko groaned, "Back to what we were _originally_ talking about. I just want to say that I'm happy for you, and that they better treat you right, otherwise they'll have _me_ to answer to."

To that, Kaiya wasn't sure whether or not to tell her about Shinichi. But she decided that it would be better to wait until later on, when her and Shinichi got to know each other more as friends instead of rivals.

When Aoko was ready to walk back to class, Kaiya quickly rushed forward and grasped her hand, making the girl turn around to face her. "Aoko, don't tell anyone please. Not even Hakuba."

Aoko nodded, knowing that Kaiya was one for her privacy. "Of course, I won't, it's your choice if you want people to know or not."

Thanking her, Kaiya stepped up to Aoko and walked beside her back to their next class, turning up a little late. When the two girls apologised for their lateness, the teacher just accepted it and carried on teaching. When Aoko reached her seat, she gave a reassuring smile towards her boyfriend who was sat in the seat behind her.

Seeing the smile made Hakuba relax in his seat, now feeling a little more at ease with being in the same classroom as the quiet magician.

The rest of the class still seemed a little nervous, but they gradually got used to it. They felt a lot better when the teacher asked Kaiya a question, and the magician demonstrated the answer via making the teacher's pen disappear. It wasn't an extreme magic trick, but it was enough to reassure the class that she was back to her old self, even if it was only a little bit.

…

 _ **Author's Note: Hello, so just a note about a few things in this story. Akako is male in this story, I was kind of debating whether Akako should be male and realise that Kaiya is the only girl that won't fall head over heels for him, or have Akako as the girl who realises that Kaitou Kid is the only man who isn't in love with her because Kid is actually a girl but then there would be the confusion of why Shinichi doesn't fall in love with her if he were to ever meet her. And so I decided to make Akako male. The name Akahiko means "Red Prince" so it has a meaning of red.**_

 _ **And also, it isn't clear when Ran's birthday is, but I did read somewhere that it was sometime in April and as Shinichi's birthday is in May then she would older than him.**_

 _ **Anyway, if you liked it then tell me what you think I would love to know. The next chapter is "Encounter," until then, stay well!**_

 _ ***MANY KISSES* AMCDeBurgh ^_~**_ __


	6. Chapter 6 - Encounter

_**Chapter 6 – Encounter**_

It was just reaching 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon when, just on time, all of the parents were lined up outside to pick up their children from Himawari Nursery. Kaiya, who is one of the part-time carers working there, was standing outside, making sure that all of the children had someone to go home with.

Seeing that all of the children were with their parents, Kaiya turned to walk back inside.

"Kaiya-neechan!" Turning to the call of her name, Kaiya watched as a little girl with light brown hair tied up in pigtails came running over to her.

Kaiya instantly knelt down to the three-year old's level. "What is it, Eiko-chan?"

The little infant's dark green eyes met hers as she looked up to her, "Kaiya-neechan, my tora-chan! I left it in there!" she exclaimed, upset, whilst pointing back inside the building of where she had spent most of her day.

Kaiya remained in her crouching position as she turned to face inside the nursery, "Okay, do you know where you left it?" she asked softly.

The girl nodded erratically, "It's by the blocks."

Kaiya nodded before standing, placing a gentle hand on Eiko's back, ushering her back to her mother. "Alright, go and wait with your mother, and I'll go back inside to get your tora-chan."

When the little girl ran back to her mother, who was talking with another parent, Kaiya went back inside to get Eiko's lost belonging. Stepping into the area Eiko called "the blocks", which was actually the place of where the building blocks were kept, which were put to the side of the room so that if the children wanted to play with them then they could go straight to them. And sure enough, next to one of the larger sets of multicolour building blocks was a small fluffy tiger teddy with large glass eyes.

Picking up the stuffed tiger, Kaiya quickly ran out of the nursery to go back to Eiko and her mother. Thankfully, they were still waiting there, the other parents had left with their children, leaving Eiko and her mother standing there alone.

When Kaiya stepped up to them, she smiled to the three-year-old, handing her the small teddy.

Eiko's mother smiled to Kaiya, "I'm so sorry about that, she keeps losing things."

Kaiya waved off her apology, "It's fine, that's what us day carers are for. I'm just glad that I found it, as it seems like one of Eiko-chan's favourite toys."

Eiko's mother's smile grew a little wider with adoration. She looked down to her daughter, "Yes, that little tiger _is_ her favourite. She's had it ever since she was about 1, so she's definitely grown sentimental to it." Eiko's mother then gestured her daughter towards Kaiya, "What do you say, Eiko?"

Eiko looked away from the face of her tiger to look up to her mother before looking to Kaiya, "Thank you, Kaiya-neechan."

Kaiya smiled down to her, "You are very welcome, Eiko-chan."

Eiko's mother looked back to Kaiya, "Well, we should really be getting home. Thank you again for that," she thanked as she gestured to the fluffy little tiger in the toddler's tiny hands. When Kaiya nodded, Eiko's mother walked her out of the Himawari Day-care, Eiko waving to Kaiya as she walked beside her mother.

When the little girl was no longer in sight, Kaiya let her hand fall to her side and walked back inside the nursery to grab her things before going home.

Reaching the staff hooks, Kaiya went straight for her bag. Only to bump into one of her colleagues.

Not seeing Kaiya behind her as she pulled her sleeves through her jacket, she turned to squeak in surprise to seeing the girl. "I'm sorry, Kaiya-chan. I didn't see you there."

Kaiya just laughed, "It's fine, Mariko-chan. I was the one who didn't make my presence known." She said as she reached for her bag.

Mariko reached back to pull her jet black hair out of her jacket, making it fall over her shoulders as she readjusted her collar. "I really need to be more aware, _instead_ of being such a scaredy-cat," she laughed as she turned away to reach for her own hook that had her handbag slung over it. As she did so, Mariko turned to the side to look around the day-care, her icy blue eyes scanning the area around them. "I know that Chou said she wouldn't be long, but where is she?"

Kaiya, her attention now being drawn to the absence of their colleague, turned around to also survey the nursery. "I'm not too sure." She turned to Mariko, "Where did she say she was going again?"

Mariko met her eyes, "She said that she was just going to the chemist up there," she pointed up towards the path that lead towards the closest train station. "It's not far from here… I don't think it is anyway," she muttered the last part more to herself.

It was at that moment that a young woman with long chestnut hair, bangs centred to frame nicely on either side of her face, came jogging in, out of breath from the rush of her actions. Kaiya and Mariko just stared at her with wide eyed confusion.

Though Kaiya was the first to recover and stepped over to her, "Chou-chan, are you okay?"

The woman opened her maroon coloured eyes to meet Kaiya's indigo, before nodding to her. "Yeah, I'm alright."

Mariko stepped closer, "Why were you running?"

Chou straightened herself up, making her way over to her bag with her purse in hand. "Well, I thought that you guys were gonna clean up without me, and I completely lost track of time. Were the children alright when I left?"

The black haired girl nodded, "They were fine. Though me and Kaiya-chan nearly had an incident with the blue paint over by the artistic corner."

Kaiya just smiled to the memory, "Oh, Rui-kun has a thing for paint… and for being messy."

Chou quickly turned to her, expression horrified and filled with worry. "He didn't, did he?"

The teenage magician shook her head, "I managed to get the pot of paint away from him before he was able to leave the table. So, it didn't get out of hand."

The sudden tension that filled Chou's body was instantly released as she sighed and sagged her shoulders in relief. "I swear that kid will actually be the death of me."

Mariko smiled, placing a hand on Chou's shoulder. "You'll get through it. When Yukiho-san gets back from her honeymoon, she'll be back and you won't have to keep rushing around to do everything."

Chou nodded, agreeing that she didn't actually need to worry at all. "Yeah, I suppose." She stepped up to the staff hooks and grabbed her bag and jacket. "Oh, the reason I lost track of time was because there was an accident up there. The police turned up and parked a little up the road, and I couldn't help but grow curious, so I went up there to check it out."

Mariko raised an eyebrow, "And?"

As Chou slipped on her jacket, she explained, "There wasn't much that I could see because so many _other_ people were there to see what was going on. But, the only thing that I could gather was that there was an accident of some sort outside of the Indian restaurant there."

Mariko's expression turned into one of mercifulness, "I really hope no one got hurt. And if anyone did, then let's hope that they're not injured too badly."

"Changing the topic," Chou announced. She clapped her hands together and turned to Kaiya, who was waiting patiently with her arms crossed over her chest. "So, Kaiya-chan. Did you have a good birthday?" The black haired girl quickly turned to the magician with a bright, almost excited, smile.

Kaiya was a little taken back by the question, but smiled anyway. "It was okay, thanks."

"What did you do?" Chou asked, "Did your _boyfriend_ take you out on a birthday meal?" she asked the second question more cunningly, a sly smirk already placed on her shiny lip balm coated lips.

The magician just rolled her eyes, already used to the usual teases and "sexual" advice that she was given by her colleagues. Mariko, not so much. But Chou, being two years older than Mariko and now being six years older than Kaiya, she thought that it was her duty to give her youngest colleague all the advice that she would need when in a relationship.

"No, Chou-chan. I do _not_ have a boyfriend." Kaiya stated in a voice that sounded like: _"That's it, end of discussion."_ "But to answer your _first_ question, I just spent the day with Aoko and then stayed in."

Mariko smiled sweetly, "Aw, that sounds nice. Did you have a good time?"

Kaiya met her eyes, "Yeah I did, although it wasn't much, it was definitely something to do, and I did have fun."

"Oh, before I forget," Mariko exclaimed before she went scurrying off to the taller bookshelves, ones that were _specifically_ braced onto the wall well out of the reach of the children that they looked after for their day jobs. She grabbed something thin from one of the shelves before walking back to Kaiya. When she got closer, Kaiya recognised the thin object to be a card. Mariko handed it to her, "It's from both of us. We would have given it to you _on_ your birthday, but obviously, you don't work on Wednesdays, and you weren't working this Thursday or Friday, so we waited until the next time you were here."

Kaiya accepted the card gratefully, "Thank you Mariko-chan, thank you Chou-chan. You guys honestly didn't have to."

Chou, breaking out of her silent surprise, which the other two just ignored as they were used to her tactics by now, smiled to the magician. "Well, yes, we did. I know you've only been working here just under a year, but you've become part of this odd family of looking after kids who can't be looked after by their parents because they have to attend their busy jobs. And you're also our friend, so it was the least we could do."

"Well thank you, I really appreciate it," Kaiya answered as she opened the card. She smiled to the sight of the pretty (but messy) glitter that quickly coated her fingers when she opened it to read what was written inside. Just as she had predicted, Chou had written a comment about how she could now put herself to good use in the bedroom now that she was 18, and how she could have so much fun doing so. Mariko on the other hand, had said something about wishing her a good day and hoping that she got everything that she wanted… including her dream lover… which just made Kaiya facepalm herself… _with_ the card in her hand, golden glitter spraying everywhere.

Kaiya tore her face away from the card to frown at the black haired girl. "Not you _too_ , Mariko-chan."

Mariko smiled completely shamefaced, gesturing to the woman standing beside her who was wearing an expression the complete opposite to hers. "Chou's a bad influence," she defended herself, knowing that she wasn't really approaching herself as being innocent in this. And Kaiya's raised eyebrow just _screamed_ disbelief.

Chou just crossed her arms and met Kaiya's eyes, "Oh, it was just for a laugh. I know that you can take a joke, Kaiya-chan. But it still does surprise me."

"What does?" Kaiya questioned, slightly suspicious of what was to come next.

Chou uncrossed her arms to spread them out wide, narrowly missing Mariko's face by a mere centimetre. "You're a beautiful girl, with a gorgeous body… and you've never _had_ a boyfriend. It doesn't make any sense!" she exaggerated, bringing a hand to her forehead and closing her eyes.

The sight was amusing to Kaiya. She shrugged as she closed the card and placed it back in its envelope. "The reason I've never had a boyfriend is because I haven't been looking. And besides, if all a boy liked about me was my body and features then they'll be in for one _hell_ of a surprise when I give them a piece of my mind. And then they _won't_ like me for it. So, yeah… that's just life."

Mariko's icy blue eyes widened with amazement, "Wow, that was pretty deep, Kaiya-chan."

Kaiya just shrugged again, "I'm being serious. If someone wants to be with you, then they should want to be with you for you being _you_ , not something that they can present to the world because their new partner is something to show off."

Chou raised a suspicious eyebrow, "Sometimes, I _swear_ that you are wiser way beyond your years."

The teenage magician just smiled sheepishly, "Well, my mother is a really clever and inspirational woman to me, so I probably picked it up from her." Not wanting this conversation to extend or carry on, Kaiya quickly looked at the quartz designed clock handing on the wall to the left of her. "Right, shouldn't we be going now?"

Chou and Mariko looked to the time and nodded, making sure that they had everything before leaving. As Chou was the one who was put in charge before their boss went off to get married, she had the duty to carry the keys and lock up the day-care. Mariko and Kaiya were waiting for Chou to finish locking the outside gate, which was the gate that they were now standing by, before they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Placing the keys in her bag, Chou turned to Kaiya. "You have to go that way, don't you?" she asked as she pointed in the direction of where the train station was, which was where Kaiya had to go.

Kaiya, remembering what the perverted minded girl told her and Mariko earlier, nodded her head in that direction. "I'm guessing that's where the accident was, right?"

Chou nodded, "Be careful, Kaiya-chan."

"I will, you don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine," she reassured, turning to walk in that direction. Giving a wave to the two of them over her head, Kaiya continued walking in the direction that lead to the train station.

…

Approaching a second corner, she realised that she would be coming up to the place of where the accident happened. _"I just hope they haven't blocked the pathway off, otherwise I'll have to walk-"_

Her track of thought came to an abrupt stop as she walked straight into someone, not even seeing them as she finally rounded the corner. Kaiya only barely registered the pounding of her head, realising that she must have collided it with something hard. Quickly asserting herself, poker face ready, Kaiya straightened to look at the person that she had the misfortune of walking into… only for her heart to stop when she came face to face with Kudo Shinichi.

Shinichi looked to her, surprised, but it was obvious that he was happy to see her, if his warm smile was anything to go by. "Kaiya, hi. What are you doing here?"

"Hi," she greeted in return. "And I could ask _you_ the same question."

Shinichi shook his head, probably shaking off his near concussion, and smiled to her. "Sorry, it's just that I thought you lived in Ekoda."

Kaiya raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I do. But you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, well, uh," he suddenly turned to point up in the direction of where the accident had occurred, and then turned back to face Kaiya. "I'm here on a case, up there."

"Was it in front of an Indian Restaurant by any chance?" Kaiya asked.

Shinichi nodded, "Yeah, how did you know?"

The magician just hummed in response, "I just do. But what happened? Car accident?"

The eastern detective shook his head solemnly, "No, it was a murder case. One of the chefs in the restaurant were poisoned by one of the cleaning staff, and they tried to get away. But luckily, someone phoned the police, and we managed to catch the culprit."

Kaiya couldn't help but frown to the news of it not being an accident but a murder that Chou was telling her and Mariko about. But she didn't say anything, as there wasn't anything to say.

Changing the subject, Shinichi turned to fully face Kaiya. "Anyway, what are you doing in Beika?"

"I work here," she responded. "Well, I work at the day-care a little distance away from here."

"Himawari Day-care?" Shinichi asked, knowing that it was the closest one to where they were now, as he had also passed it many times before. When Kaiya nodded, Shinichi smirked. "Wow, who knew that the infamous Kaitou Kid had a job," he whispered in a teasing manner. Even though they had known each other for a couple of months now, the detective was still learning.

Kaiya just elbowed him in the side, "Oh, as if I'm incapable of having a job."

Shinichi held his hands up in surrender, "That wasn't what I was saying. I was just saying that it's surprising to know that you have a job."

"You'd be surprised at what I can do and what I am actually capable of," she retorted, smiling all the while.

Shinichi scratched the back of his neck, "Are you hungry?" Seeing the surprise spread across her face, something that was most likely rare as it was probably close to impossible to surprise her without her actually having to fake her surprise. "Would you like some lunch, or do you need to be somewhere?" he asked, hoping that he didn't come across as blunt as he sounded to his own ears.

Kaiya thought for a moment before shaking her head, "No, I can have lunch with you. I haven't got to be anywhere."

Shinichi smiled wide (also a little excitedly), "Great. What do you fancy?" he asked as he offered her his arm, which she only smirked to. A smirk that he didn't miss.

Wrapping her arm around his, they began to walk in step with one another. "Anywhere with great dessert."

…

Shinichi took Kaiya to a small restaurant that wasn't actually far from where they bumped into each other. Once they were shown to their table and they had ordered what they wanted, Kaiya regarded the detective opposite her with interest.

"So, go on." She stated, making the detective look to her. "Ask me, as I can tell that you want to know."

Shinichi let out a little laugh, clearly caught out. "I didn't want to sound like a busybody, so I didn't ask."

Kaiya just shrugged, leaning back in her seat. "I _really_ don't mind, you know. Go on, ask away."

"Okay, how long have you been working at Himawari Day-care?" he questioned a little shyly, feeling like he really _was_ intruding on her personal life.

"Just under a year," Kaiya replied as she stirred her milkshake with her straw. She smirked suddenly, "I'm guessing that you weren't expecting someone like _me_ to actually be good at that sort of thing."

The detective shook his head. "No, not at all. I'm just surprised that you decided to work with infants. I thought you might have done something that was more involved with people who were closer to your age or older."

"Well, it wasn't my idea to go and work at Himawari Day-care," she commented, placing her elbows on the table. "My friend got me the job because, apparently to her, I needed to leave my house." When Shinichi's eyebrows shot up, Kaiya thought it best to explain. "Okay, I was kind of going through a hermit stage last year, according to my friend, and so she got me out of the house and dared me to get a job at the day-care. She made a bet with me that if I got the job, she would leave me to be a hermit all I wanted. But if I couldn't, then she would keep taking me out at weekends so that I didn't spend my time lolling around the house."

The story was a little amusing to the detective, which made the magician smile. "So, I'm guessing that when you got the job, she left you alone?"

Kaiya nodded, pleased with her winning the bet that happened nearly a year ago. "Yep, and she kept her word. But, as she's my best friend, she would call up at the weekends when I was at the day-care working, and ask me how it was."

"Do you enjoy it?" Shinichi inquired curiously.

Kaiya nodded, "Yeah, I like it. Believe it or not, it's actually quite fun to work and look after the children. Sometimes it's a little stressful, though you can't help but expect that with children, especially when they're _that_ age. And anyway, I've always been good with kids, so that helps."

"It's a good thing when you enjoy it," Shinichi clarified, knowing that no one should be in a career if they didn't want to be. That was another reason why people were still so surprised that Shinichi had his heart set on being a detective. He looked back to her, but noticed something gold sprinkled across her shoulder when she flicked some hair over it. He narrowed his eyes, "What's that?" he asked, pointing to her shoulder.

Kaiya looked to the shoulder that he was pointing to and chuckled amusedly, "Oh yeah, that. It's glitter from a card that my colleagues gave me."

Shinichi's eyes widened, "It's your _birthday_ today?" he asked, feeling guilty. Ruling out any other reasons for why she might have been given a card by her colleagues, but 'birthday' was the only one that made sense.

The magician laughed to seeing his face and shook her head, "No, it's not today. It was last week."

Shinichi drew back a little to hearing that, "Last week?!" he exclaimed, slightly peeved that he wasn't made aware of that information. "When? What day was it?"

"Wednesday. Honestly, it isn't a big deal. It was just another day." She assured him, not really bothered about her birthday.

Shinichi closed his eyes and sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I feel so bad, I could have _at least_ gotten you a _card_ ," he muttered, looking slightly defeated.

Seeing the great eastern detective beating himself up over this, Kaiya hesitantly reached over to place a hand on both of his, which were now at the crown of his head as he lowered it closer to the table. Her heart jumped when she felt how warm and soft his hands were beneath her own lonely palm. "It's okay, Meitantei. Don't beat yourself up over it, it wasn't your fault that I didn't tell you."

Shinichi's head shot up to that, Kaiya quickly extracting her hand from his in a flash. The detective narrowed his eyes to her, not enough to be considered a glare, but enough that his azure eyes showed that he was irritated with her. "Yeah, _why_ didn't you tell me? I mean, we were texting each other on Wednesday, and you never thought to mention that _that_ day was your birthday. I could have _at least_ said 'Happy Birthday' to you over text. I've known you for a few months now and you never thought to _tell_ me."

Kaiya was trying her absolute hardest to contain her amusement, but she was having difficulty holding it in. In order to hide her snickering, Kaiya had to cover her mouth as the detective rambled on. "I _really_ don't see what the big issue is."

Shinichi met her sparkling indigo eyes, "Well, I _did_ say that I wanted to get to know _you_ for who you are. And not being able to wish you 'Happy Birthday' _on_ your birthday because I didn't know when it was, is pretty annoying and pitiful as a friend, and also from a friend's point of view." He sighed again, relaxing a little in his seat. "I will make it up to you," he announced in a voice that didn't leave room for argument.

Kaiya just smirked – she just couldn't help it – "You really don't have to."

Ignoring her protests, Shinichi narrowed his eyes slightly at her. "I'm still going to make it up to you. What are you doing this week?"

Kaiya just seemed to wilt in her seat, "Nothing interesting unfortunately, just studying and revising, which is far from fun."

Shinichi was surprised to hear that answer, slightly disappointed that she wasn't free, but also for the reason as to why. "You're still at school?"

Kaiya shook her head, "No, though I start college in September. But I'm studying this week for my provisional, which I'm actually dreading."

That was definitely not the answer that Shinichi was expecting, "Oh, really? When's the official test?" he asked just out of curiosity.

Kaiya placed her chin in her hand, glancing over to the other customers in the restaurant. "My theory's this Tuesday, and my driving test is the day after."

Shinichi smiled to her, "Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about, you'll do fine. You're incredibly intelligent, so you won't have any problems with passing your theory. And I know that you'll pass because I've seen you drive first hand for myself, so you'll be fine."

Kaiya just laughed, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Oh yeah, I bet that was another _great_ surprise for you, finding out that Kaitou Kid had been with you the whole time during that case."

The eastern detective just slightly shrugged a shoulder, "I will admit that I didn't know at first, but then I realised that Mouri-ojisan is a heavy smoker and, all the way through the case, he hadn't smoked _one_ cigarette, so I thought it was a bit strange but it made sense when you jumped out of the helicopter."

The magician shook her head, "I'm so disappointed in you, not realising sooner."

"Hey, I think there were more pressing matters happening at the time, such as finding out who the culprit was," Shinichi said in his own defence.

Kaiya finished the last of her chocolate milkshake before sliding the tall glass to the side, "Moving on, how did school turn out for you, 'cause I know that it must have been difficult due to how long you were gone for?"

Shinichi folded his forearms on the table's surface, "It was surprisingly alright, it wasn't as hectic as I _assumed_ it would be. But I was a lot busier than most of the other students who were stuck in revision classes or exams. But a lot of agreements and promises were discussed and made for me to successfully get back into school a little later than where I left off. The Tokyo metropolitan police department helped me out a lot with that as well, them being a big help with those promises and agreements."

Kaiya blew out a breath to that, "Wow, that sounds like it was fun."

Shinichi snickered, hearing the irony in her statement. "Yeah, the most enjoyable amount of school time that I've _ever_ had." There was a pause between them, the only noise being the soft and casual chatter of the other people in the restaurant. "But anyway, back to what we were discussing before," Shinichi spoke, bringing back the topic of their earlier conversation.

"Actually, what _you_ were discussing," Kaiya interrupted, knowing exactly what he was talking about. " _I_ was just listening."

" _Anyway_ , how about next weekend? Are you free next Saturday maybe?"

Kaiya lifted a cunning eyebrow, "My, my, you're very persistent, aren't you?"

The detective just shrugged. "Well, I meant what I said."

Again, there was a moment of silence as Kaiya contemplated the thought, her bright enthusiastic indigo gaze moving away from him as she did so. With her final decision decided, Kaiya glanced back over to him, smiling cheerfully. "I think I'm free next Saturday, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

All the detective could respond to that with was a wide, hopeful smile.

…

 _ **Author's Note: So, this chapter is based a few months after their first day out in Ekoda, but they didn't meet much as they were busy with school exams and college applications. It also seems that I have written Kaiya as a character who isn't the continuous cheery person that she usually is, but that's because she is developing more trust for Shinichi the longer they talk to each other and she's not on edge like she was before, as she's more relaxed around him. This was kind of how I wanted their relationship as Shinichi and Kaiya to start, contrasting how they are as detective and thief. So, they are courting each other in a way.**_

 _ **The next chapter is called "Sulking", so I hope you look forward to it. And if you liked this chapter, then feel free to tell me what you thought. Stay well, my lovelies! Until next chapter!**_

 _ ***MANY KISSES* AMCDeBurgh ^_~**_


	7. Chapter 7 - Sulking

_**Chapter 7 – Sulking**_

So, it wasn't actually Shinichi's idea to go out today, sitting in Poirot with a cooling cup of coffee in between his hands and his childhood-friend/sweetheart-turned-to-more-like-my-sister-now-but-yeah sitting across from him with a face full of happiness and optimism. Something that Shinichi definitely wasn't in the mood for right now.

In all honesty, he would have much preferred to be at home, sitting in the armchair in his library, reading, but the girl sitting opposite him was the one who knocked on the door at and kept knocking until Shinichi actually _opened_ the door. Then she proceeded to step into his doorway, give him his shoes and ushered him out of his house. The only thing that Shinichi _was_ glad about was the fact of him being dressed in clothes instead of his pyjamas, having the feeling that Ran would have forced him out of the house even if he was still wearing his pyjamas.

Ran had been calling him since nine in the morning, which Shinichi wasn't aware of until he checked his phone when she mentioned calling him over and over, and then decided to just go to his house and check on him. When his door had opened to reveal the eastern detective, dressed and okay, she was relieved. And she didn't really pay any mind to the annoyance in his face, as she just thought that it was because of her continuous knocking.

Well… that was before they reached Poirot and Shinichi had taken his seat. It was only _then_ that Ran noticed the morose body posture of her best friend and decided that something was definitely up with him. And watching him for the past fifteen minutes like that was getting a bit _too_ much, even if it was secretly humorous to watch.

"Okay, Shinichi," she blurted out a little too quickly, but it earned her his gaze so she didn't feel like taking it back. "Seriously, I can't keep watching you like…" she left the rest of the sentence open as she wasn't too sure how to carry it on.

Shinichi straightened in his seat, his body language now exhibiting defence. "Like what?" he snapped indignantly.

That just seemed to set Ran off as she began giggling at his response, finding his mood all the more comical. "I'm sorry, but it's quite funny watching you like this."

Shinichi just deflated in his seat, folded his arms on the table and placing his face in them. "This was why I didn't want to come out today," he murmured into his arms.

Ran just tilted her head to the side a little, smiling. "Oh, come on, Shinichi. Is everything all right? Do you want to talk about it?"

Shinichi shook his head against his arms. "There's nothing to talk about."

"It kind of looks like you're sulking, and I don't mean it in any other way than literal," she clarified as she continued to face her best friend. "There's something that's agitating you and you can't take your mind off of… _whatever_ it is. And I've known you long enough to know that, whatever it is, it must be big if you can't keep your mind off it."

Shinichi just groaned into his arms, before lifting his chin to place it on his folded forearms. "There's nothing to discuss, really there isn't. Can we just change the topic please?"

Ran's facial features suddenly changed into that of something playful. Smiling brightly, she met his azure eyes, which seemed like they wanted to close. "Okay, fine by me. So, where is this lovely girl of yours? I can't wait to meet her."

The detective just sighed, "She's at work." Knowing that it was Thursday, meaning that Kaiya worked until nearly 2:00pm on Thursday and after having a busy day of looking after infant children, he wasn't too sure whether she would be up for going anywhere after she had finished work so he would just text her later and ask her how her day had been.

Ran's eyes widened slightly with interest, "Ooh, so, how old is she?" she asked, randomly thinking that the mysterious girl in question was a year or two years older than them.

"She's the same age as us. She's just turned 18." His eyes slanted slightly with suspicion. "Why do you ask?"

"How long is ' _just_ '?" she questioned further, wanting to know a little more, whilst also ignoring his question.

Shinichi absentmindedly took a sip of his now cooled coffee. "Last Wednesday," he answered without taking his eyes off of his coffee.

He was then surprised when she unexpectedly squealed, making Shinichi momentarily question his best friend's sanity, and faced him with clasped hands and wide soft violet eyes. "Aww! That means that you were with her on her birthday!" she exclaimed excitedly, as if Shinichi and Kaiya were already a couple.

Shinichi decided to just ignore her outburst and sink back down on to the table again. It was only until Ran tapped him on the head that he looked up from the varnished table top.

" _So_?"

Shinichi just raised a confused eyebrow, "So, what?"

Ran made an uncultivated hand movement, seeming to step out of character for some reason today, Shinichi thought to himself, afraid of what she might do if she heard him say that aloud. "What did you do for her birthday? What did you get her?"

Again, being reminded that he didn't actually _know_ that it was Kaiya's birthday _on_ her birthday because she hadn't told him, even though they were talking _on_ her birthday he was filled with guilt. "I didn't get her anything," he admitted, but thought quick to continue when he saw her face change into an expression of incredulity. "I didn't get her anything because I didn't know that it was her birthday on Wednesday, as she didn't tell me."

Now Ran was just confused, "Wait, you _didn't_ know? But I thought you talk to each other all the time?"

Shinichi nodded, agreeing with her. "Yeah, we do. It's just that she didn't mention it to me, even though we were texting on Wednesday."

Ran just gave a subtle laugh, "Well, maybe she didn't find that her birthday was a big deal. Quite a few people, especially teenagers, don't these days. Sometimes, it's their friends that make a bigger deal of their birthday than the actual birthday girl or boy." She explained, understanding his reason for not knowing the girl's birthday. "And anyway, at least you know when her birthday is now, so you can take her out somewhere and do something for her birthday, as a belated present. I _would_ say 'that at least you know now so that you'll remember the day of her birthday for next year,' but you are absolutely _terrible_ when it comes to the day that people were born on."

The eastern detective was drawn back in his seat to the comment, "I am not?!" he defended, looking to her exasperatedly, as if she was denying the fact that he was actually human.

Ran just raised an eyebrow to him, "Oh, come on, Shinichi. You can't even remember your _own_ birthday, let alone anyone else's."

Shinichi, with realisation, sank back down into his seat a little, mind working quickly so that he could come up with a time that he actually remembered _someone's_ birthday. "Well," he spoke unsurely, "I remembered _your_ last birthday, didn't I?"

Ran nodded, "Yeah, only because Sonoko text you about it, asking if you had gotten me anything, which I didn't expect anything by the way, so don't play that card, Shinichi."

Shinichi remembered that actually. He had gotten a text from Sonoko on Shinichi's phone whilst he was still Conan, which he was lucky that he received it when he was walking home from school with the detective boys saying about Ran's birthday being in a few days. Obviously, he had panicked, not knowing what to get her and so he settled for a small teddy bear, that held a fluffy pink pillow on its knees. Sewn in the middle of the tiny pillow with white thread were the words, _'Happy Birthday, Ran'_. He had ordered and personalised it at Agasa's house and set the delivery for the day of her birthday to come to the detective agency.

On the day, she had come home from school, both Conan and Kogoro had been surprised to hear a happy cry from Ran being downstairs and then she darted into the agency with a card and a small wrapped up parcel in her hands, saying that it was from Shinichi and that he remembered her birthday. As Conan, he had just gotten her another card with sister on the top (because that's how their relationship became like how it was now). Shinichi was extremely surprised to see how much Ran loved his gift, how she had smiled and cried saying that she just wanted him home and safe.

Ran made a soft humming sound, bringing Shinichi back to the present. "Well, anyway, I just hope that you, for your lovely's girl's benefit, remember things like that, even the little things. And, it's the little things that any girl appreciates when in a relationship with someone they love."

Shinichi just smiled sarcastically, "Thanks, you can become a relationship counsellor by giving out advice like that." Though, he knew that she was right, but Kaiya wasn't just _any_ girl.

The girl's smile grew wide to the comment, "Thank you."

Shinichi just manages the urge to hold back a sigh. _"She does know that I didn't mean that as a compliment, right?"_

"I _am_ glad though, that you've found someone," Ran said, changing the topic. "We all thought that, after _we_ didn't work out, you would either die alone or start dating guys."

Shinichi's eyes widened to the size of saucers, "What?!"

"Not that there's something wrong with you dating guys though," Ran was quick to assure him, her expression remaining passive.

The detective however, wasn't convinced. "Are you serious?! What on _earth_ gave you _that_ idea?" The _"Do you even realise that you just said all of that with a straight face?"_ was only asked silently.

"Hattori-kun," the karate champion shrugged casually.

"H-Hattori!" Shinichi squeaked – which he will most definitely deny later if confronted or asked about it, because Kudo Shinichi did _not_ squeak.

Ran nodded, "Yeah. Well, to be honest, I heard from Kazuha-chan, as she heard Hattori-kun talking about how devastated he was when he found out from her that I was going out with Katsu and that you and I see each other in different ways to how we used to. And then she explained to me that Hattori-kun said that there might be a chance of you having a thing for guys because you never spoke about any other girls, which I could only confirm at the time, because you never did whenever you and I spoke over the phone, so I thought that it was probably the most reasonable explanation, as it did make the most sense."

The eastern detective just forcefully ran his hands through his hair, not knowing whether or not to cry or scream or just call up his best friend and explain to him what an idiot he was… though, now that he thought about it, all he ever really talked about with the western detective, beside from cases, was about… _"No, he couldn't have made a guess like_ that _with just me talking about them."_

"Apparently," Ran cut into his thoughts for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. "Hattori-kun was saying that you spoke about Kaitou Kid a lot whenever you spoke to each other, or that you would complain about not being able to go to his heists, because the case you were on was taking up all of your time, which of course was obvious. It took you nearly two years to come back from that case. And so, he kind of deduced that, because Kid was the only person that you spoke about, he just made a wild assumption that you were now into guys."

Shinichi could feel a vein ready to burst in his skull, "Yes, _wild_ being the key word," he gritted out.

Ran only laughed at his reaction. "We all support you, no matter what decision you make, or whatever decision you _would_ have made, you know that right?"

"Well, as much as I am grateful for all of your guys' support," Shinichi started exhaustedly. "I still can't believe that you all thought that, I mean, come _on_."

"Shinichi, let's face the facts. You were gone for nearly two years and _we_ ," she gestured between the two of them across the table. "Didn't end up working out, so of course, people were going to start wondering… things. If anything, you should have been expecting it when you came back."

For some strange reason, Shinichi felt like this morning out had been more like a therapy session rather than a catch up with a friend. Now, all he wanted to do was go back to bed and it wasn't even midday.

There was a moment of silence as Ran just sat there beaming at him, and Shinichi was sat opposite her just questioning the faith that he has in his friends and contemplating whether or not he should berate the western detective for his _wild_ assumptions.

The moment of silence however, was broken when Ran tapped her hand against the table to gain his attention. "Oh, by the way, you might get a call from Hattori-kun soon as I told Kazuha-chan that you like someone. I only told her because she asked how you were, so I told her the truth, and she is more than definitely going to tell Hattori-kun, unless she already has."

Shinichi could already imagine how that conversation was going to turn out. Heiji would continue to question him over and over, and if Shinichi didn't give him the answer over the phone then he would most likely fly all the way to Tokyo just to get it out of him. The eastern detective groaned, which felt like that was all he _had_ been doing ever since Ran dragged him out, and let his head fall onto the table with a not-so-gentle clunk.

Yep, it was decided. Kudo Shinichi was definitely sulking.

…

 _ **Author's Note: Hello again, I hope you are all well. I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long, though I promised I would update more frequently but have been so busy that I haven't had time to think so here is something for you all. I hope you are enjoying this story and if you are, feel free to drop me a review as I love hearing what you all think about this story.**_

 _ **The next chapter is called "Hattori Heiji's Assumptions", so I hope you all look forward to it. Until next time, stay well, my lovelies!**_

 _ ***MANY KISSES* AMCDeBurgh ^_~**_


	8. Chapter 8 - Hattori Heiji's Assumptions

_**Chapter 8 – Hattori Heiji's Assumptions**_

It was a normal Saturday morning for Kudo Shinichi. He had gotten up, made coffee, got dressed etc. When he was more awake – exactly after ingesting four entire cups of black coffee then he was basically awake – Shinichi refilled his cup for another coffee and took the novel that he was reading into his library, where he had left his phone on charge the previous night as he was too tired after reading through cold cases.

Going over to the desk, Shinichi placed the novel that he was holding on the arm of his armchair and rounded the mahogany desk to un-plug his phone, unlocking it. His face instantly brightened up when he unlocked the screen to see that he didn't have any messages. _"I might actually be able to text you first this time…"_ he thought to himself hopefully as he opened up a new text. He was ready to text _'_ _Good Morning, Magician Extraordinaire. How are you this morning?'_ But it seemed that his day's amount of luck quickly packed its bags and left, because before he could even finish typing ' _morning_ ', his phone made a dinging noise, notifying him that he had a text message… from the girl that he had _tried_ to message first, but it always seemed like she was up at the crack of dawn.

Sighing with resignation, Shinichi came out of his text to read Kaiya's.

 _ **-K- "Good morning, Heisei Holmes. Though you probably aren't up right now, I hope you have a great day with… whatever you do (solving cases that are probably 50 years old) but I hope you have fun. I need to get to work soon, so I'll text you later. :P"**_

The text just made Shinichi chuckle lightly, _"More like 10 years old, but okay."_ Quickly opening up the text draft that he had just closed, he continued his own text message, altering it into a reply.

 _ **-S- "Good morning to you too, Magician Extraordinaire. I am well, thank you. How are you?"**_

Clicking the send button, Shinichi locked his phone and picked up his cup of coffee from the desk and walked over to the armchair of where he placed the novel that he planned on reading today. As soon as he was sat down, his phone dinged again with a new message. He chuckled to the magician's reply.

 _ **-K- "Ah, you're up Meitantei. I can't say that I'm not surprised because that would be a lie. I wasn't expecting a reply from you until at least 10."**_

Shinichi smiled as he took a sip from his coffee before quickly typing a response.

 _ **-S- "I did try to message you first, but you beat me by a mere second."**_

When he had sent that, he had the strange feeling that Kaiya was laughing, also going by the fact that her comeback to that last message was taking far too long, unless she was typing a lot. So, in deciding that it was best to keep himself occupied whilst waiting for her reply, Shinichi picked up the book that was still balanced on the armchair arm and opened it. It was another few moments before his phone dinged again.

 _ **-K- "Well, you better start getting used to it, Meitantei. I will always be a step ahead of you ;)"**_

Shinichi didn't know whether to laugh or sigh but managed to make a sound that sounded like both of them combined.

 _ **-S- "That won't stop me from trying."**_

The next reply was almost instant, nearly making Shinichi drop his phone as he wasn't prepared for her next text to come so quickly.

 _ **-K- "I love your commitment and determination, Tantei-kun."**_

 _ **-S- "I suppose it just comes with the job."**_

 _ **-K- "I hope you are planning to use that at my next heist, otherwise I'll be disappointed."**_

A laugh escaped Shinichi to that message, imagining an unimpressed Kaitou Kid shaking her head and tutting on a rooftop with the moon shining bright behind her.

 _ **-S- "I will."**_

 _ **-K- "Ooh, is that a promise?"**_

A warm crimson flush settled on the detective's cheeks to that, unsure if the magician was implying another meaning, but he decided that he was going to play it cool and just answer casually.

 _ **-S- "Yes."**_

 _ **-K- "Ah, there was a slight pause there. You didn't get all flustered to that, did you, Meitantei?"**_

With that, Shinichi just wanted to throw his phone across the room. _"How the heck did she know?!"_ he screamed silently to himself. It was as if the elusive thief was in the room with him, being able to read him like a book. He then began to wonder if the magician had planted security cameras in his house, but then came to a late realisation that Kaiya had never even _been_ to his house. Well, he didn't know if she had ever come to the house as Kid, but he knew for a fact that she had never come to the Kudo mansion as Kuroba Kaiya.

His phone dinged again, bringing him out of his thoughts. Quickly looking back to his phone, he realised that Kaiya was just kind of left hanging.

 _ **-K- "You still there, Tantei-kun?"**_

 _ **-S- "Yeah, I'm here, and no, I didn't get flustered."**_

It was obvious that he was in denial, but he was kind of glad that the magician wasn't there with him as he knew that she would only tease him about it.

 _ **-K- "Okay, okay, whatever you say."**_

…

Later on, in the morning, Shinichi had gotten a text message from Haibara, saying that he would need to come over to the professor's house for some tests, just to make sure that everything was still okay and also, so she could most likely check his blood pressure and see how his immune system had improved since taking the antidote. If it had, then he himself wasn't aware of it. He replied to her saying that he would be over when she wanted him, not being able to go over straight away as she wasn't home.

He knew that the antidote was permanent, but it didn't hurt to take a few extra tests just to make sure that the antidote didn't give him anything or make him ill. Although, now that he thought about it, he was kind of concerned about an aching pain that he had in his legs the other day. He didn't think too much of it, as he just brushed it off as sleeping on it funny. But the pain just stayed with him throughout the spread of two days. Maybe he would need to tell Haibara about it when he went to the professor's later.

Knowing that that can wait until later, Shinichi placed his book down on the arm of the armchair and stood to walk down into the kitchen, sliding his phone into the pocket of his trousers as he did so. Clicking the button to warm up the coffee pot, the detective leant against the island in his kitchen, waiting to make himself another cup of coffee.

In his pocket, his phone began to ring. Reaching into his pocket, Shinichi looked at his phone… only to sigh when he saw the name displayed at the top of the screen. Sliding the call to answer, Shinichi put the phone to his ear. "Hey, Hattor-"

"Who is it?" Came the blunt question from the other end of the line. There was no hello, just… _that_.

Suspicious, Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Who is it?"The western detective asked again, though this time, a little more demanding.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shinichi responded bluntly.

There was something that sounded like a scoff from the other end, making Shinichi narrow his eyes a little. "Oh, come on, Kudo, don't play dumb. Ya know exactly what I'm talkin' 'bout."

"No, I'm afraid I don't."

The western detective snickered, "Well, Kazuha and I had an interestin' conversation yesterday, sayin' that she heard from your Nee-chan dat you are seein' someone. Dat ya talkin' with 'em." There was a pause – a long pause – before either of them spoke again. "So, don't ya think ya 'ave somethin' to tell me?"

When Shinichi was silent, the Osakan knew that he had hit the jackpot and couldn't help but laugh aloud to himself, unknowingly tempting Shinichi to hang up.

"Come on, who is it?" Heiji pressed further, desperately wanting to know the eastern detective's secret, though it wasn't really much of a secret. Well, technically, it was to the western detective as he had never heard about Shinichi seeing or talking to someone since he got his original body back. "Do I 'ave to come to Tokyo just to get it out of ya?"

Shinichi sighed, "No, you don't have to do that."

"Finally, he speaks!" came the loud response from the detective on the other end of the line, causing Shinichi to move the phone away from his ear so he didn't go deaf.

"Why do you want to know so bad?" Shinichi groused into the phone.

"I'm offended dat you would even ask dat! I'm ya best friend, I 'ave a right to know these things!" Heiji explained affronted, giving Shinichi the image of him dramatically placing a hand over his chest with a heart broken expression, causing Shinichi the urge to laugh.

"I don't have to tell you _everything_ , you know," he said in justification, as if that would shut the western detective up completely. Of course, it didn't.

"Ya know dat I know dat you're avoiding answerin' the question, is actually proving to me dat there is definitely an answer," Heiji deduced, not giving up on wanting to know what his best friend wouldn't tell him. "So, come on, spill. Who are they?"

Shinichi just sighed again, knowing that if he didn't tell the Osakan, then he would most likely fly all the way to Tokyo just to get the answer, even maybe to beat it out of him. "Her name's Kaiya, if you must know."

Heiji made a noise of acquiescence, "Ah, okay. Male or female?"

Shinichi just raised an eyebrow, "Female, as I _did_ say 'her' name. And anyway, since when have you ever heard of a man with the name 'Kaiya'?"

"Well, I have actually," Heiji answered calmly. "I was just askin' 'cause I'm surprised dat you're actually datin' someone, that's all. And, though there ain't anythin' wrong with it, we all kinda thought that you were into guys."

"Yes, Ran told me all about your _wild_ assumptions," Shinichi sighed into the phone.

"Aww, come on, Kudo, could ya blame me?" Heiji asked in his own defence.

Shinichi nodded quickly, even though he knew that the other boy couldn't see him doing so. "Yes. Yes, I can."

"Well, I only made dat assumption 'cause you were always talking about dat thief, talking about how clever he was and how he always made you impressed when the police couldn't solve his riddles. When you were Conan, ya always spoke about him." There was a pause, and then, "And so I kinda worried for ya, wonderin' if you were obsessed with the thief. And I was gonna confront ya 'bout it, and then Kazuha told me 'bout Nee-chan goin' out with dat guy and so I thought dat was the reason, as you also told me dat you saw her as a sister."

Now that Heiji explained it, it made sense as to why he would assume what he did. Shinichi wasn't actually aware of how much he had spoken about the thief until Haibara confronted him about it a few months before Kid gave him the information for the antidote. She was a little confused as to why he kept talking about the moonlight magician, in a way that a fan would. But when Shinichi had just remained silent, Haibara just shrugged and chose to ignore it, whilst muttering about obsessed detectives and their crime fetishes. Going back to it now, Shinichi realised that she must think the same thing as – most likely – everyone else did that he knew.

Going back to the conversation at hand, Shinichi sighed into the phone as his body sagged against the table top. "Well, currently at the moment, I'm not dating anyone. We're just talking, not dating." He suddenly narrowed his eyes at the phone, hoping that the detective on the end could feel his glare, "So don't go around telling everyone that I've got a girlfriend."

"Woah, hey, Kudo, I'm ya best friend! I won't tell anyone, cross my heart," Heiji disclosed. "But I'm just glad dat you've met someone and that ya ain't infatuated with dat thief." Shinichi held the urge to snicker to that, but keeping the fact of always thinking about the thief to himself. "So, this girl, she makes ya happy, right?"

"Yeah, she does?" Shinichi answered honestly, smiling warmly to himself.

"What's she like?" Heiji asked with pure curiosity.

"She's vastly…" he struggled to find the right word to describe Kaiya without describing Kid. "Eccentric. Kaiya's also incredibly vivacious, there never being a dull moment when we're with each other. Also adding to the fact that she's incredibly talented." There was silence on the other end of the line for a while, arousing suspicion in the eastern detective. "Hattori?"

"You call her _Kaiya?!"_ he almost screeched in shock, making Shinichi wince and quickly pull the phone far away from him as much as his arm would allow. "Just how long 'ave ya known this Kaiya for, Kudo?!"

"... A few months now," the eastern detective replied casually as he finally remembered that he was going to make coffee and began pouring himself a cup, waiting for the other detective to continue.

" _A few months?!_ And I'm only hearing 'bout this _now_?!" Heiji fumed, clearly showing that he wasn't annoyed in the slightest.

Shinichi made the ridiculous excuse, "Well, I _have_ been busy," but the western detective was still angry as well as a little offended. "Oh, man, Kudo. I thought we were friends," Heiji grumbled.

Shinichi casually took a sip of his coffee and sat down at the island in his kitchen. "We are, but like I said… I've been busy, I couldn't tell you." He surmised, going back to being the casual asshole that he was.

There was a huffing mixed with a growling sound from the phone, before the Osakan replied. "I sometimes hate you, Kudo."

…

Shinichi had been reading through some old case files when Haibara sent him a text saying that he could go over to the professor's for his tests. Knowing that it would be better to be safe than sorry, Shinichi sluggishly moved the case file that he was reading to the side of him and stood from his armchair, going to the door and putting his shoes on before walking out of his house and over to the professor Agasa's.

When he got there, he was greeted by the professor, who was wearing a wide smile to seeing the detective. "Ah, Shinichi. Ai-kun is downstairs in the basement," he informed as he closed the door behind the teenager.

Thanking the professor, Shinichi took his shoes off in the genkan, adorning himself some house slippers before making his way through the house, towards the basement.

As he descended the steps of the basement, he called out to the little scientist. "Hey, Haibara." When he reached the bottom, his scrutinised the lab with slight unease. A little distance away from where Haibara was sat at her desk, the medical slab that was more or less centred in the room was covered in a thick padding and a stark white sheet, obviously set up for him to lay on. Placing his hands into the pockets of his trousers, he heightened his shoulders closer to his ears, "So, where do you want me?"

Without turning around from what she was typing on her computer, she pointed to the medical bed/slab. "Sit down there and roll up your sleeves," she ordered calmly.

Doing as his told, Shinichi began rolling up his sleeves as he made his way to the medical bed. He mentally took note of how comfortable the slab was, and decided to comment on it. "Haibara, you put quite a few layers on this."

The little scientist pushed her chair away from her desk to turn and meet his eyes, "Well, I know how you always complained about how _uncomfortable_ and _cold_ you were when you either had to sit or lay down on it, and I'm just not in the mood to put up with your complaining." Jumping down from the chair, she walked over to the trolley that held a small metal tray. Picking up an empty needle and a cotton ball, she walked over to him and stepped up onto the stool that was placed beside the medical bed. "This is just to make sure that everything in your system is still working right. Give me your arm?" she instructed, gesturing to his left arm, which he complied to.

She wiped antiseptic on the inner elbow of his left arm, before proceeding to skilfully insert the needle in and slowly extract blood from him. Shinichi just looked away, though he was used to the sight of blood from crime scenes and also with the fact of Haibara having done this many times, turning away from the extraction was just automatic for him.

When she had the right amount of blood needed from him, as carefully as she inserted the needle, she removed it and cleaned any excess blood from his inner elbow with the cotton ball. She then stepped down from the stool and walked back to the metal tray to place the now blood-filled syringe on it.

Haibara then went to grab the sphygmomanometer before turning on her heel to walk back to him, stepping onto the stool again, already wrapping the cuff around his left bicep, ready to check his blood pressure. Inflating the cuff with a long measured press of the pump, watching it enclose tightly around the detective's bicep. She waited a few silent moments before releasing the pump, letting the cuff deflate against Shinichi's arm. Once she had clocked the results, Haibara nodded to herself before reaching up to undo the cuff.

"Kudo-kun, answer me honestly." She told him as she stepped down from the stool to place the sphygmomanometer back on the trolley, placing the pump on top of the cuff so that the wire wasn't dangling over the side. When the aforementioned detective turned to her, Haibara met his eyes seriously. "Have you had any physical pains recently or since you took the antidote, distinctive ones, that you want to tell me about?"

Shinichi thought for a moment, knowing that if he didn't tell Haibara then she would most likely throw something at his head for being an idiot. So, with a sigh, Shinichi stretched his arms over his head. "The other day I had an aching pain in both my legs, but I didn't think anything of it."

Haibara stared at him for a moment, before turning away and picking up a pencil from her desk. She then reached over to get a hard covered book and stepped back over to him. "Kudo-kun, stand over by the wall beside the stairs," She instructed the detective as she opened a draw in her desk to dig through it, in search for something.

The eastern detective gawked at her confused, "Why?"

The response just made Haibara grumble, "Just do it, Kudo-kun." Whilst also muttering under her breath, "Why do men always ask stupid questions?"

Thinking that it would be best to listen, Shinichi stood from the medical bed and walked over to the wall beside the staircase that she pointed to, standing against it patiently. Looking over to the little scientist, he watched as Haibara pulled out a long line of measuring tape. When she closed the draw, Haibara walked over to a stepladder that was placed up against the wall closest to the desk and picked it up, keeping a hold of it as she made her way over to the detective waiting by the wall beside the staircase.

Haibara placed the step ladder beside where Shinichi was standing and looked up to meet the teenager's eyes, "Take off your house slippers and stand up against the wall. Keep your back straight," she added the last part as she began walking up the step ladder, stopping when she could reach his head, which so happened to be the top step anyway.

Now knowing what she was doing, Shinichi turned his head to the side to look at her. "You know, if you wanted to measure my height, you should have just asked because I can tell you my height."

"Shh," she silenced him as she forcefully moved his head to face forward. "Keep your head and back straight, Kudo-kun." When he did as he was told, Haibara picked up the book and placed it on top of his head, making sure it was straight before marking on the wall behind him where his measurement ended. Haibara removed the book from his head and gave him the beginning of the measuring tape, keeping the other end in her own hand, "Place that at the bottom of the wall so we can see how tall you _actually_ are."

Even though he was adamant that he knew what his height was, Shinichi still bent down to place the beginning end of the tape at the very bottom of the wall, keeping his fingers on it as Haibara extended the side of the tape that she had to meet up with the little mark she had made on the wall, placing the exact measurement beside the mark on the wall. "And how tall do you think you are, Kudo-kun?"

Shinichi looked up, bewildered, "174cm to be exact."

Haibara smirked as she made her way down the stepladder, taking the measuring tape back from the detective. "You don't pay attention to _everything_ then honestly," she said blankly as she reached the floor, turning to meet his confused expression. "Look at the measurement that I've put up there beside the mark of your height."

Shinichi stood and turned around, inspecting the numbers that had been written beside the light shaded pencil mark on the wall. "178…" he read out in a whisper. His eyebrows creased down as he whipped his head back to face Haibara, "That can't be right, I was 174cm when I last checked my height."

Haibara shrugged, making her way back to her desk and sitting on her office chair. "Yes, that may be true, but you were the size of a six year old boy for nearly two years. When you ingested the Aptx 4869 at the age that you were, you were still a growing boy filled with hormones and multiple amounts of emotions. But the poison put your regular growth on pause, making it seem as if your height would always be the same whenever you returned to your original size. And as you took different temporary antidotes at different times, your body's natural growth was predictably confused with what to do, so it remained the same. What would normally stunt someone's would be if they weren't getting the right nutrients or the right number of vitamins needed to be classed as healthy. But with you, the Aptx 4869 interrupted your natural growth, so when you had that pain in your legs the other day, you were experiencing a growth spurt. Once you had taken the permanent antidote, your body began its natural growth again, but there was a prolonged relapse to how your bodily growth continued. Instead of it going steadily, it hit you instantaneously, hence the growing spurt."

The eastern detective just stared at her with his mouth open and his eyes wide, the sight earning a laugh from the little scientist, "Don't tell me you thought that you were going to remain the same height as you were when you were sixteen. Of course you weren't going to, though you might not grow that much more _now,_ you are still physically growing. For being such a _great_ detective, I'm surprised that you didn't think about that. Did you know that human males stop physically growing when they're 21, though women stop when they reach the age of 18? If you didn't know that that was basic biology, then I worry for your future children, _if_ you decide to have any."

Shinichi's mind faltered slightly during the end of that, making him miss the insult from the scientist. Her words faded into the background as he was more caught up with thinking that the Kaitou Kid wasn't able to disguise as Kudo Shinichi anymore, unless it was someone who didn't know Shinichi very well to notice his difference in height. So, if someone like Ran was at a heist and Kid decided to disguise as Shinichi, she would most likely spot the difference.

The feeling of something being thrown at his leg brought his attention back to Haibara who was now glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest, "Kudo-kun, did you even listen to what I was saying?"

Shinichi nodded quickly, "Yeah, something about it being basic biology, which I already knew by the way."

Haibara just facepalmed, "Oh my, it's worse than I thought." When Shinichi raised an eyebrow, she thought it best to explain what he had obviously missed out on. "I was talking about Kaitou Kid's next heist, but as soon I _mentioned_ the thief, you zoned out."

Shinichi was taken aback for a moment before a nervous laugh erupted from his chest, a hand coming to scratch the back of his head out of nerves just by the mention of Moonlight Magician. "Oh right, sorry. But I didn't know that there _was_ a heist."

She looked to him with a raised eyebrow, "It's in today's newspaper. I'm surprised that you don't know already."

Shinichi shrugged, "I haven't looked at the paper yet."

Haibara gave an acknowledging nod before turning around in her chair, typing something into the computer (most likely something related to the many set of results that she had taken from the detective). "I heard Mouri-san talking about you and Kid the other week."

The statement made Shinichi still to the bone, waiting for the accusations to start. "Y-Yeah? What about Kid and me?"

"That everyone thought you were romantically interested in the Kaitou Kid, saying that you spoke about him a lot," she casually notified without turning away from her computer.

"That's not… I'm not…" was Shinichi's failed attempt to explain and defend himself, but it didn't seem to persuade the little scientist at all.

"Kudo-kun, I'm not going to lecture you about your sexuality, or what you _feel_ like doing-"

"H-Haibara!"

"But what I w _ill s_ ay is this," she continued on, ignoring his call out of her name to stop. "I don't trust Kid, like I've told you before. If you put your trust in him, then you need to watch your back because he could turn around and stab you in it when you aren't looking."

This time, Shinichi just sighed and ran an exhausted hand through his hair. "Haibara, how many times? Kaitou Kid isn't a member of the Black Organisation. And he never will be."

Haibara swerved around in her desk chair to face him, "Like I've a _lso_ said before, you don't know that."

"Well, I can tell you in full confidence that Kid isn't a member of the Black Organisation, or even a part of it at all," Shinichi declared reassuringly, well as reassuringly as he could as it was hard to persuade Haibara otherwise.

A silence fell between them, just the both of them staring at each other, as if they were attempting to read each other's thoughts, before Haibara looked away from the detective and sighed deeply. "Just be careful Kudo-kun. Also remember that Kid has the same, if not a better skillset of using disguises then Vermouth does."

The detective nodded, "I know, but I also know I'm right about Kid not being a part of it."

"Well I hope then for _both_ of our sakes that you're right about him," she stated quietly, though Shinichi could hear it. "But this still doesn't mean that I trust him, just because you're in love," she remarked smugly, hiding her smirk as she looked back to her work on the computer. Also missing the sight of Shinichi's face heating up into that of lava.

…

Later when Shinichi went back to his house, he retrieved the newspaper from his post box, in search of the date for Kid's next heist.

Preparing himself a coffee, Shinichi read through the newspaper until he found Kaitou Kid's heist and smiled to seeing that the infamous thief was attempting to steal an Aquamarine stone from a wealthy jeweller, Fukuzawa Kakuzo. Reading further into the article, Shinichi spotted a quote from the business man: _"Though I was surprised that Kid decided to target me, as the Aquamarine stone that he has chosen to steal was only found two weeks ago, I'm even more surprised to how he hasn't decided to target any of my jewels before."_

Looking to the right of the article, the detective took in the appearance of the jeweller. He was a handsome middle-aged man with a rich looking suit, who also seemed to be looking quite smug in the photo. When he read a little further through the article, Shinichi understood the smugness in the jeweller's face.

The article had included another quote from the jeweller, which only brought amusement to the eastern detective: _"Though I am new at being a target of Kid, I have thought ahead and planned a trap for him that I highly doubt he'll be able to get out of. So, the police should be grateful to me."_

Shinichi put the newspaper down to reading that and snickered to himself, _"Oh, that guy is in for one hell of a surprise when Kid comes to claim her target."_

…

 _ **Author's Note: Hello! I know it's been forever since I updated and I can't tell you all how truly sorry I am. My reason was that I was going through a bout of depression whilst finishing my last year of college and now I'm finished, so, hopefully I will be able to update In Search For Haven regularly, which I hope I am able to do *fingers crossed*. It makes me so happy to all of you who have been reading this and your comments made me so happy, thank you so much, I love you all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to tell me what you thought of it, I love hearing your opinions. The next chapter is already in working progress.**_

 _ **The next chapter is called "Aquamarine", so I hope you look forward to it, but until then, stay beautiful my lovelies!**_

 _ ***MANY KISSES* AMCDeBurgh ^_~**_


	9. Chapter 9 - Aquamarine

_**Chapter 9 – Aquamarine**_

Nakamori Ginzo was at the Fukuzawa Hall, watching the men that were hired to install Fukuzawa's trap for Kid when he came to collect the jewel. The Inspector could understand that Fukuzawa would rather hire people who knew exactly how this "security system" would work and who would know how to correctly set it up rather than let the Kid task force do it; that much he knew. But what Ginzo _couldn't_ understand was the way Fukuzawa was planning on "catching" Kid.

The trap in question was for the main jewel room to be unoccupied as the security system was put to work. _That_ was what he couldn't even _begin_ to understand. It just didn't make sense.

"Ah, Nakamori-keibu," called a voice behind the Inspector. Ginzo turned around just in time to see the owner of the target swiftly making his way over towards him. When the owner reached him, he clapped a hand on Ginzo's shoulder. "How is everything going?" He asked whilst looking over at the people setting up the trap.

Ginzo turned to him for a second before glancing away to face the rest of the main jewel room. "The people that you hired are almost finished with setting the trap. But there is something that you haven't told me."

Fukuzawa Kakuzo glanced over at him, quizzically. "Oh."

Ginzo folded his arms across his chest, eyebrows slanting downwards. "You briefly told us all the plan in order to capture Kaitou Kid, but you never told us what this plan actually _consists_ of. And you didn't tell us about the security system that you have planned out either. All of this just sounds a little... unprepared."

Fukuzawa laughed, "I am quite prepared, Keibu. I'm not going to explain the trap in thorough detail as I want it to be a surprise for both you and the infamous Kaitou Kid." He moved closer to Ginzo, "It's just to be on the safer side."

Nakamori leant away from him, finding the man to be slightly irritating. "You need to realise that, in order to _catch_ Kid, you need to inform the people who are instructed to capture and take him in. _Not_ keep the plan of operations to yourself."

The owner wagged a finger at the Inspector, tutting. "But that is the reason why I'm doing _just_ that. You may not like it, but the less people I tell, the lower the chance of that thief finding out what I have in store for him."

The Inspector took a moment to take in what Fukuzawa was talking about, sort of understanding it but not looking forward to how it would blow up in not just the owner's face but the police's as well. Sighing, Ginzo pinched the bridge of his nose, "All right, but how about the security system you mentioned? As I recall, you told us that nobody was to be stationed within the main jewel room."

Fukuzawa nodded, "That is correct."

Ginzo drew back in surprise. "Wait. You were being _serious_? Are you insane?"

"It would be the best method for the trap to work." He stated, unmoved by the Inspector's previous comment. "The trap will be set up in this very room, where the jewel will be placed in the centre. No one will be able to stand at the sides as it will…" he paused for a moment, thinking of what word would be best to use. "… affect the way the trap works. But your men will be stationed outside of the building, surrounding it from all places. Two of my own men will be stationed outside of the entrance of _this_ room, as that is the only way in. You and I will be stationed in the control room."

Ginzo raised an eyebrow, "Why in the control room?"

Fukuzawa grasped his arm softly, dragging him to the entrance and walking out into the hallway. Fukuzawa pointed to the two corners that were in direct view of the jewel entrance. "There and there," he spoke as he pointed to each corner. "Will be where two cameras will be placed, facing directly at this entrance. Two of my men will be stood here, on guard. They are heavily trained in self-defence, so the thief won't be able to get past the cameras _or_ my men." Fukuzawa stepped closer to the detective, whispering to him again. "And do not tell anyone, but above the door of this entrance, there will be a heat scanner that will be put in place to measure, not room temperature, but body temperature."

"Why body temperature?" Ginzo couldn't help but ask.

"It will measure body temperature at that very point, so if the guards are moved then the temperature will drop. And I will have a remote notifier with me at all times, informing me that the body temperature has changed." After explaining, the owner stood away from the Inspector, "I'll leave that information with you, Nakamori-keibu." He then turned away to walk back into the jewel room.

Nakamori watched him go; still a little confused as to Fukuzawa's reasons of not wanting anybody standing in the jewel room that contained Kaitou Kid's next intended target. With only two days until the heist, the Inspector could only hope that Fukuzawa knew what he was doing.

…

"Apparently, according to Tou-san, Fukuzawa Kakuzo is a major dealer billionaire that owns multiple amounts of expensive ornaments, objects and jewels all over Japan. But he has his own hall, that is basically what holds all of the jewels that he owns in one place. He probably even owns priceless artefacts from all around the world." Explained Aoko as her and Kaiya made their way towards the Fukuzawa hall. She turned to Kaiya, "Hey, you seem pretty quiet. Are you okay?" She asked, concerned.

Kaiya turned to her, nodding. "Me? Yeah, fine. I'm fine. Just thinking."

Aoko raised an eyebrow to her, clearly not convinced. "Oh yeah, thinking about what?"

"Just about what you were saying about this Fukuzawa guy." Kaiya turned away from her to face forward, "I think he's just a normal collector. So, I don't understand why you haven't stopped talking about him since we left the train station."

Aoko turned away this time with a huff, "Well, if you must know, my father thinks that there is something going on with this _normal_ collector, as you so put it."

Although Kaiya knew that something was definitely off about the man, she wasn't about to go into her _own_ theory of what Fukuzawa Kakuzo was really up to, as it had begun making her sceptical about tonight's target owner. Pushing that aside and pretending to ignore the secretive behaviour of the owner, Kaiya lifted an eyebrow to her best friend. "What does he think is going on?"

Aoko's head bowed slightly, "Well, in order for Tou-san to catch Kaitou Kid, he needs to be informed of the securities and the systems that are put into place in order to catch him. That also goes for the plan that is being put forward; either that being the target owner's plan, or my father's. He needs to be told. But the fact that tonight's target owner hasn't really told my dad much is worrying."

Kaiya was taking in the information gratefully. Hearing a majority of her _own_ theory being told to her from a different perspective was definitely a type of reassurance. "So, I'm guessing that the Inspector thinks that Fukuzawa-san is up to something?"

Aoko inhaled deeply, giving a nod. "Yeah. It wouldn't surprise me if this Fukuzawa Kakuzo had something _else_ up his sleeve."

Kaiya turned to her and smirked, "Aww, Aoko, are you worried about Kid-sama?" She asked teasingly, holding the urge to laugh when Aoko groaned loudly.

"If I'm going to be worried about anyone, it would be Tou-san. _Not_ that stupid thief," Aoko answered back bitterly. "But it's not like I want Kid to get hurt or anything, as he's not _that_ bad."

Kaiya smiled, "I knew you liked him."

Aoko gave a loud hmph, "I wouldn't go _that_ far, he's still just a stupid thief."

The magician nodded, hiding a warm smile from her best friend.

The two teenagers finally reached the Fukuzawa Hall, having a little trouble with some of the people standing guard outside by the gates. When Aoko asked if she could pass as she was the daughter of the Inspector that was leading the task force set to catch Kid, the guard didn't believe her. Thankfully, one of Nakamori's men noticed Aoko and Kaiya and came over to them, confirming the teens' identity so they could get through the restriction tape. Thanking the officer that helped them through, Aoko asked him if he knew where her father was so she could give him his dinner before the heist.

When given the direction of where the Inspector was, Aoko and Kaiya walked through the building, passing multiple police officers on the way. Aoko was looking around as she walked, "Wow, this place is huge, considering that it only holds the jewels that Fukuzawa owns."

"Yeah, well these rich people do like to show off the fact that they have a lot of money." Kaiya whispered to her as they rounded a corner. Kaiya slid closer to Aoko when a couple of officers came around the corner simultaneously to them, the two teens squishing closer to each other in order to avoid them.

After walking through another hallway, Aoko seemed to look confused; her eyebrows drawing downwards. "Where is he? Kaiya, have you seen him yet?" she asked her best friend, worry becoming ever so slightly audible in her tone.

Kaiya shook her head. She was about to respond when the two teens were shouted at by a man behind them. The girls turned around to come face to face with the owner himself. He looked furious.

"Who the hell are you two?" he demanded, pointing accusingly at them. Aoko was drawn back by the action, clearly shocked, whereas Kaiya's eyebrows just raised as if to say, _"oh hello."_ His mannerisms could use a tweaking.

When Aoko seemed too stunned to speak, Kaiya stepped forward, "We're Nakamori Aoko and Kuroba Kaiya. Aoko is here to bring Nakamori-keibu, her _father_ , his dinner for tonight. We were told to come this way as this is where the police officer at the door told us to go in order to find him."

Fukuzawa sighed, seemingly relieved. "I apologise for my rudeness, I had no idea. I had no idea that Nakamori-keibu had children."

"Do you know where we can find the Inspector?" Kaiya asked, placing her hand on Aoko's shoulder, instantly feeling the other girl relax when she did so.

Fukuzawa scratched his nose, "The last I saw him, he was outside the room where the _Aquamarine stone_ is being held." He then folded his arms, raising an eyebrow at the two teenage girls. "Okay, so which of you two is the detective that is going to be helping with catching Kid tonight?"

That caught both of the girls' attention. Aoko's because she had a boyfriend who would more than occasionally go to Kaitou Kid's heists to try and catch Kid, though he didn't tell her that he was going to tonight's heist. But the owner caught Kaiya's attention because she was currently talking to someone who had promised that he was going to be going to Kaiya's heists, though he hadn't told her that he was going. Probably just because she assumed that she would see him _during_ the heist.

"Come again?" Kaiya couldn't help but retort.

The jewel owner didn't have the chance to answer as he was stopped by a voice behind the girls, "Aoko!"

The girls turned around to see Nakamori Ginzo walking over to them. Stopping to stand next to his daughter, Ginzo looked to her, "Aoko, I'm sorry I didn't meet you at the door, there were some things that needed to be checked over." Ginzo then looked to the jewel owner, "Fukuzawa-san, I see you've met my daughter."

Fukuzawa nodded, "Yes, we were just getting acquainted actually. I suppose your daughter is the teenage detective that is going to be helping with catching Kaitou Kid."

Ginzo's eyebrows slanted downwards, "No. That would be another kid, though I don't know if he's arrived yet."

"Right, my apologies." Fukuzawa said, looking to Aoko. "I just assumed that being the daughter of the Kid task force's leading Inspector, you would be following in your father's footsteps into law enforcement."

Aoko smiled nervously; she was incredibly grateful that Kaiya was there beside her. "Um, well, I'm not too sure if that would be the correct path for me." She answered, whilst trying to hide in on herself.

Kaiya, seeing – and feeling – the awkwardness between the two adult men, as Kaiya could tell that they didn't like each other very much, she grabbed Aoko's lunch-free hand. "Okay, well we'll be going now. It was nice to meet you Fukuzawa-san." She turned to Ginzo, as well as grabbing the lunch from Aoko and handing it to the Inspector. "This is for you, Keibu, I hope you enjoy it. All right, bye." Without wasting anymore time, Kaiya pulled Aoko by the hand away from the two men and began walking back the way they came. As they walked, Kaiya looked over at Aoko. "You okay?"

Aoko nodded slowly, "Yeah, thanks for that. That was kind of awkward."

Kaiya and Aoko slowed down, though Aoko's hand was still in Kaiya's. "Tell me about it. You could cut that tension with a knife, it was so thick."

Aoko's eyes narrowed, "I don't think Tou-san likes Fukuzawa-san very much."

Kaiya couldn't help but agree. "Maybe it's to do with what you were saying earlier, about how Fukuzawa-san wasn't telling the Inspector much about his plans on catching Kid."

The Inspector's daughter turned to her, "Yeah, that's probably it."

…

Walking out of the hall, Aoko and Kaiya were laughing about not realising that they were still holding hands. It was only funny when the both of them were swinging their intertwined hands whilst going around a corner and crashed into two of the Inspector's men. Even though they apologised to the two officers, as well as receiving an apology from the officers themselves, the two girls ended up laughing all the way out of the hall. They took a breather once reaching the late afternoon air, calming themselves.

They began walking to the exit when Aoko's phone began to ring. Pulling the device out of her pocket and saying that it was her father, she answered. "Hey, Tou-san." Aoko then turned around to Kaiya, mouthing 'sorry' to her. Kaiya just smiled in return.

Looking around, Kaiya noticed a certain someone standing a little distance away, talking to a couple of the Kid task force officers. Kaiya was about to turn away when that person finished speaking to the officers and began making his way into the hall, where he met the eyes of Kaiya. The person jogged up to her, a smile on his face.

"Hey," greeted Kudo Shinichi as he came to stand next to Kaiya.

Kaiya smiled back to him, "Hey. I didn't think I would get to see you until later."

Shinichi shrugged. "Yeah, well, I thought I would come hear a little earlier, just to scope out the place."

Kaiya raised an eyebrow to him, her expression suspicious. "That's not the only reason. Is it?"

The detective was silent for a moment before sighing and moving his face closer to hers, obviously about to say something he didn't want anyone else to hear. "You know the jewel owner, Fukuzawa Kakuzo?" he questioned in a whisper. Shinichi continued when Kaiya nodded. "Well, apparently, he's a lot more than he seems and knows a lot more than he says. I don't know what it is about this guy, but he doesn't seem to be good news."

Kaiya turned a little towards him, "Aoko and I have just seen him. He was quite intense, as a character himself. _And_ he thought Aoko was the 'teenage detective' that was going to be working with the police in order to try and catch Kaitou Kid." When Shinichi gazed at her, confused, Kaiya began to explain. "Well, due to Aoko being the daughter of the leading Inspector of the Kid task force, he assumed that she was the teenage detective. And hey, don't underestimate Aoko, she's a _lot_ smarter than she looks."

Shinichi drew back in defence, "I wasn't saying-"

"Calm down, I'm just messing with you," Kaiya teased with a prominent smirk. Though her smirk was short lived as she turned back to the Fukuzawa Hall. "Just be careful when you're in there, Shinichi. Fukuzawa hasn't really told anyone about the trap or how it works."

Shinichi walked to stand on the other side of Kaiya, "I think that if anyone needs to be careful, it's _you._ " He leant closer to whisper in her ear. "The trap is made for _you_ after all." Drawing away, Shinichi smiled, "Catch you later." And then walked into the Fukuzawa Hall.

Kaiya watched him go, her poker face slammed on, so she could control the heated colour that wanted to shove its way onto her cheeks. _"Damn you, Meitantei."_

After another minute of just standing there, Aoko came running over to her, turning off her phone and shoving it into her pocket. Kaiya met her eyes, "Everything all right?"

Aoko nodded, "Yeah. My Dad was just calling to tell me about what the jewel owner was talking to me about before he got to us. He also told me that the owner was sorry about making us feel uncomfortable when we met him."

Kaiya nodded, "I just wish the man had the guts to tell us to our faces instead of getting the Inspector to do it."

"Yeah, me too. Tou-san also said for us to take care of each other when we go home." Aoko added, zipping up her pocket.

Kaiya smiled, "Aww, tell the Inspector I love him too."

Aoko smiled warmly in return, linking her arm with Kaiya's as they began walking out of the property. "I think he already knows."

…

When the night fell, precisely at eleven o'clock, Fukuzawa called everyone together in order for a briefing. Probably just to give everyone a recap on what everyone's task was, as the jewel owner seemed to be giving more orders than the leading Kid task force Inspector himself, which only seemed to annoy, not only the Inspector, but the rest of the Kid task force.

Fukuzawa was the jewel owner and he also was the one that wanted this trap to work, just like most of them there, but the amount of men that he had compared to the amount of men on the Kid task force contrasted greatly. There were only six men under Fukuzawa's direct security order, which, when compared to the amount number of Kid task force members, didn't make sense _at all._ So, for someone with an entire collection of jewels under one roof, whilst sitting on tons of money, wouldn't it make more sense to have more men on your security team? Whether it be for protection of the owner or for the owner's possessions. But of course, in this case, it would be for the protection of the owner's possessions.

Nakamori Ginzo was trying to focus on his task, even as Fukuzawa kept babbling on about the _'formations'_ that he had mentioned at least four times ever since this waste of time of a briefing started, but the Inspector couldn't help wondering about the jewel owner's _true_ intentions. Though it was only a hunch, a feeling. So, the Inspector decided to keep it to himself, silently wishing for someone else to be thinking the same thing as him.

"When Kid appears, everyone knows their position and what their objectives are, correct?" Fukuzawa asked, bringing Ginzo out of his thoughts to where Fukuzawa was standing in his high-class dark mauve suit and silk burgundy tie.

"Yes sir!" everyone in the room called out in response. They then separated to leave and go to their places of position, wherever it was they were ordered to go.

When they were clearing out, Ginzo caught sight of Kudo Shinichi standing at the side of the room; leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Ginzo wasn't aware of how long he had been standing there, or how much of Fukuzawa's briefing he had heard, but he could tell by the teenager's face that he had heard enough.

Ginzo knew that the teenage detective had a precise way of thinking, a way in which that worked as Megure-keibu was always more than happy for the kid to help him with multiple cases. But this division wasn't murder. It was theft and more precisely; the division set to capture the infamous Kaitou Kid. So, the reason for the young detective to be there was still unclear, but the kid's goal was acceptable.

Normally Ginzo didn't enjoy letting teenagers – which they were, they were the facts – interfering with his and his task force's work. Ginzo found it bad enough that his daughter's _boyfriend_ was more or less _always_ at heists, but to add another kid to the scene was just plain irritating.

But, Ginzo was actually sort of glad that the Detective of the East was at tonight's heist, only for reassurance really. It was one of the things that Ginzo respected about these teenage detectives, though he didn't know Shinichi as much as he would have like to, which also made him slightly uneasy of him at the same time, about how they kept an open mind to all possibilities. It was what made them good at what they did, especially with the boost of their imaginative youth. So, if he could question anyone about his uneasy disbeliefs in the jewel owner's plan, then his best bet would be the teenage detective.

When the room had cleared more, and he could see that Fukuzawa was busy talking to two of his task force members, Ginzo made a quick beeline for the teenage detective, hopefully not drawing the attention of the jewel owner towards him.

Shinichi was looking around the room, inspecting the exits and entrances and was about to turn around to leave out of the open doors that he was standing near when his name was called by someone behind him. Stopping and turning around, Shinichi was surprised to see the Inspector walking over to him with a look of determination. "Evening, Nakamori-keibu." Shinichi greeted politely when the Inspector stopped to stand in front of him.

Ginzo sighed before looking Shinichi in the eye, "Kudo-kun, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Shinichi's gaze drifted towards the jewel owner for a second before he looked back to the Inspector, nodding. "Of course."

The Inspector mimicked the young detective's own actions by glancing at the jewel owner over of his shoulder, "Well, I just wanted to ask you something." He paused to look back to Shinichi. "What are your thoughts on the trap for tonight's heist? The one that we're using to catch Kid?"

Okay, that was definitely a surprise and _not_ what Shinichi was expecting. But the detective's mind instantly clicked at that moment as he stared at the Inspector, who was waiting for his response. _"Normally, the Nakamori-keibu wouldn't even_ consider _my opinion on how he was planning on catching Kid as he's never needed or wanted my input. But the fact that he's asking me_ now _about the trap, only shows that he has suspicions about Fukuzawa-san's plans as well. Which also means that he doesn't trust the plan_ or _the trap at all."_ Shinichi looked around, "Well, from what I've seen of it, it seems proficient enough, but this is Kid we're talking about. To Fukuzawa-san, his entire plan may seem fool proof, but I'm not too sure that Fukuzawa-san knows of Kid's capabilities." He explained, his voice low as he kept it between them.

Yeah it was bad to keep things from the target's owner, but Fukuzawa Kakuzo wasn't exactly telling everyone everything.

Ginzo sighed again, but this time it was with relief. "I'm glad you think the same. If anything, I'm kind of worried about what Fukuzawa-san has in store for Kid."

Shinichi nodded, cupping his chin. "I'm guessing he hasn't told you much about the structure of the trap."

Ginzo shook his head, not actually believing that he was consulting with a detective, a kid at that, about the heist that _he_ was in charge of. "Kudo-kun, have you seen it?"

"No." Shinichi answered, keeping his voice near a whisper. "I only managed to catch a glimpse of the room that the _Aquamarine Stone_ was being held in, but one of Fukuzawa-san's guards told me that no one is allowed in there as it could compromise the trap, which could also affect Kaitou Kid's capture."

The inspector, knowing the clock was ticking and that there was now less than an hour before Kid was to appear, decided to finish the conversation with the detective. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Be careful, Kudo-kun. I would never normally worry about harm being caused to anyone as I confidently know for a fact that Kid is against that. But, I have a feeling that this heist is different. So, be careful and you look out for yourself. Got that." When he watched confusion and shock grow on Shinichi's face, Ginzo couldn't help but laugh a little. "Look, I'm a father first. _Be. Careful._ "

Shinichi nodded, "Will do, Keibu."

…

In the hallway, standing beside the open double doors, near where the inspector and Shinichi were standing, was one of Fukuzawa's men. Their face was shielded by their hat, their entire form being shadowed by the dark hallway. Some of the generators in some parts of the building had been altered in order to provide enough power for the trap, so some of the corridors didn't have powered lights so Fukuzawa's men were given torches.

The security guard standing beside the door kicked themselves off the wall, hearing enough of the conversation between the inspector and teenage detective. Unhooking their torch from their belt, they switched it on to walk through the darkened hallway.

After walking through a couple of more rooms, the guard knew that they were approaching the target room, also to where there was lit corridors, so they turned their torch off and hooked it back onto their belt. Entering the long corridor that held the only entrance to the jewel room, the security guard slowed down their steps ever so slightly. At the same time, they began massaging their left shoulder, using that moment to throw up a small metallic device on to the security camera on the left side of the corridor. The metallic device stuck to the camera, making the guard internally relieved. As they were reaching the other end of the corridor where the other camera was in the opposite corner, the guard threw another small metallic device onto the opposite camera when they were under it, disguising the action with a sudden stretch and a yawn. Again, the small metallic device stuck to the camera, making the guard want to smile. Instead they remained looking tired.

Exiting that corridor, the guard was in the opposite direction to another one of Fukuzawa's security guards. When the other guard approached, they nodded to them. "All right, Yoshifumi?"

The guard nodded with a smile, "Yeah, you, Nissho?"

Nissho nodded in return, "Yeah. The rounds are almost done." He and Yoshifumi passed each other, turning around to walk in their different directions, only backwards so they could continue their short conversation as they walked further away from each other. "The boss wants us in position at 11:50pm. No later."

Yoshifumi gave a two finger salute to the fellow guard, "Got it. Though I'll still be making the rounds."

Nissho nodded in response. "See ya later then," he offered with a wave.

Yoshifumi turned away to keep walking in the opposite direction, giving a wave over their head. "Yeah, catch ya later."

When Nissho turned the corner, Yoshifumi looked around to make sure everyone was out of sight, the action being done discreetly of course. Yoshifumi ducked into another dimly lit corridor, stopping outside part of the wall that was hidden by the shadows cast by other parts of the building. Pulling a key out from their pocket, the guard lifted up a small section of wallpaper, revealing a tiny – almost pea sized – key hole. The guard fit the key in, turning it to hear an almost silent click before pulling opening a door and slipping inside before they were noticed by any other security guards and pulling the door closed.

The guard rummaged in the pocket of their uniform jacket to pull out a small earpiece, placing that into their ear and turning it on. After waiting for a moment, the guard spoke, "Crystal Zuku."

Another moment passed before a reply was heard through the earpiece. " **Takomi Amethyst. Is everything in place?"**

"Yeah, everything's ready." The guard reached into their jacket pocket again, this pulling out a medium sized tablet. Tapping on the screen, causing it to light up and illuminate the guard's face, making their brown eyes visibly bright. "I just need to adjust a couple of things." The guard added before opening a couple of windows on the tablet in their hands. Two windows opened up to reveal the two different viewpoints of what the two cornered cameras that faced the jewel room were seeing. The guard nodded to themselves to seeing that two guards were already standing outside the jewel room. The guard then looked at their watch, "Almost time. Where are you?" The guard asked the other person on the other end of the line.

" **I'm with the rest of the task force, on the south-west side of the building.** " Came the reply.

The guard looked away from the screen for a moment, "That's close to the building's entrance. That's good," The guard added as they turned their attention back to the tablet screen.

" **Is there anything else you want me to do?** "

"No, I've got a handle on things Jii-chan. When you get the chance, leave out of the closest exit," The guard instructed, though their voice was soft when they spoke.

" **Okay, but** _ **please**_ **be careful Wakai-okusama. I don't trust this Fukuzawa Kakuzo.** "

The guard smiled to the other's concern. "You too, Jii-chan." After that, the guard reached up to remove the earpiece, placing it into their pocket, turning their focus onto the screen. They checked their watch, before tapping the screen on both of the open windows, pressing the record button for both of them simultaneously, stopping the recording at a minute and a second, keeping the recording piece of footage on a loop for both cornered cameras.

Smiling to themselves, the guard clicked the tablet off and placed it back into their breast pocket, turning around to exit the dark tiny room. Making sure that no one was making their rounds, the guard slipped out of the slim doorway, walking down the corridor towards the jewel room. A knowing smirk on their face to know that no other guards would be circling the corridors as they were all stationed elsewhere, except for the two security guards standing either side of the only entrance to the jewel room. _"Now it's showtime."_

…

For whatever reason, Fukuzawa didn't want Shinichi _sneaking around,_ as he so put it, when Shinichi went to go off and check out all the exits and entrances, as well as the airducts. The jewel owner only seemed to insinuate that Shinichi was either up to something, or that he was Kid himself. Of course, that was understandable because Kid could be disguised as literally _anyone_ at the Fukuzawa Hall. But the fact that Shinichi _knew_ that the jewel owner _himself_ was hiding something only seemed to offend the detective.

About an hour before, Shinichi was talking to a couple of the Kid task force members. They were more than happy to have such a great detective helping them catch one of the most elusive criminals of all time (which Shinichi had only wished that Kaiya would have been there to hear it as she would be more than flattered). It was then when Fukuzawa approached him, asking for a private word. Straight away, he wasn't in Shinichi's good books.

The jewel owner had walked him to a small secluded area of one of the other jewel rooms, more or less empty except for a few small jewels which were far from the target, in order to ask Shinichi what his exact plan for the night was. Usually, Shinichi remained calm and collected when answering a question as simplistic as that, but he suddenly felt put on the spot when the jewel owner looked at him as if Shinichi was about to rat him out. And Shinichi hated that feeling, as it wasn't often.

The young detective only told Fukuzawa that he was there in order to work with the Kid task force to try and help them catch Kid. Shinichi went on to tell him that he was recommended by the leading inspector of the homicide division at The Tokyo Metropolitan police department, just in case he wanted proof, Fukuzawa could give him a call and ask for a reference. Shinichi could also tell that the underline tone of cockiness that he had used when stating his answer only seemed to piss the jewel owner off, but Fukuzawa managed to keep a cool enough head in response.

Before he had turned away, the jewel owner had whispered to him: "Don't think I'm going to let you roam around as freely as you please as _this_ is _my_ building with _my_ security. I don't care how good of a detective you are, this _isn't_ part of the homicide division, it's theft. So, I'm not going to give you that much freedom." With that, he turned on his polished leather heel and walked away, leaving Shinichi to his own devices. Though that threat only seemed to raise the detective's suspicions of this Fukuzawa Kakuzo.

So, there Shinichi was. Standing at the back of the control room, watching the backs of Nakamori Ginzo and Fukuzawa Kakuzo, as well as a couple of other members of the Kid task force, as they worked and watched the multiple screens from security cameras.

Shinichi was bored out of his mind to say in the least. If anyone were to see the way he currently was, he would look like a stroppy teenager that didn't get something that he wanted, deciding to strop at the back of the room when his mother instructed him to come and socialise with the family. Well, that was what Shinichi felt like he was doing right now and he didn't really care if that _was_ what he looked like. He was kind of pissed off.

The teenage detective looked at his watch, _"Six minutes until midnight."_ Crossing his arms over his chest, he released an audible huff; the sound echoing through the small room. Shinichi took note of how both the inspector and the jewel owner turned to him. Well, the inspector turned to him fully, meeting the boy's eyes, "Is everything all right, Kudo-kun?" Ginzo worriedly questioned as he straightened slightly from his hunched over position. The jewel owner however just glanced at the detective from the corner of his eyes for a second before looking back to the monitors.

Shinichi nodded to the inspector, "Yeah, I just feel a bit cramped in here. I feel kind of useless, being in _here_ instead of out _there._ "

Ginzo gestured towards the control room door with his thumb, "Well, if you want to go out and keep a look out, that's fine. It would be a good thing to have a keen and experienced eye out there whilst I'm in here."

Shinichi jumped at the chance to leave the room, already shouldering off the wall to walk out. He was stopped when his hand wrapped around the handle, the jewel owner holding a hand up as he called out the word 'stop'. Everyone in the room had turned to look at the jewel owner when Shinichi had finally turned around to face him. Fukuzawa's back was still facing Shinichi when he spoke again. "You can't go out there and disrupt the plan. And you also don't know what will happen if you encounter Kaitou Kid out there, as we all know what that thief is capable of."

Ginzo drew back a little from where he was standing beside the jewel owner, clearly surprised to hearing such an accusation. "Yes, we know what Kid is capable of. But if you are accusing him of causing physical harm, then you're wrong. The most Kid has done is knock us out with sleeping gas. No harm has come to any of us during a Kid heist."

The jewel owner looked up at Ginzo from where he was hunched over the control desk. "Nakamori-keibu, he's a criminal. Which is something that all of us can agree on. True criminals will do whatever they need to in order to get their prize. Kid is _no_ different."

Ginzo clenched his fist, getting ready to raise his voice, like he usually did at any Kid heist, but Shinichi spoke first. "It just seems that _someone_ didn't do their research before planning this out." There was a moment of silence. Everyone in the room turned to now stare at the teenage detective who was still stood by the control room door, one hand still on the handle while the other was tucked into his trouser pocket. "If you knew anything about Kid at _all_ , you would _know_ that he has a No-One-Gets-Hurt policy. Everyone knows that. And the fact that you _don't,_ is worrying."

Fukuzawa's eyebrows drew together as he looked to the digital clock beside the monitors, "Look, it's one minute to midnight, so we don't have time to mess around with accusations and research. Our main goal right now is to capture Kid." Fukuzawa took out a device from his pocket which displayed a temperature reading.

Ginzo glanced down at the device, raising an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"This is the temperature monitor I told you about earlier, the device I would have to read the temperature above the entrance of the jewel room." Fukuzawa explained, turning away from the device to look at the digital clock, which read _00:01._ "Okay, it's past midnight which means that Kid will be making his approach very soon."

Ginzo leant down to squint at the screens showing where cameras had been placed in and out of the building. He was checking every one of them but he didn't see anything strange, suspicious or even out of the ordinary. "There's nothing. There's no blackout or unconscious officers laying around... it's as if he hasn't even entered the building."

At that, Shinichi lunged forward to almost glare at all of the screens. Seeing that Ginzo was right, he turned to the jewel owner. "Fukuzawa-san, why were some of the corridors in the building left without lighting?"

Fukuzawa sighed, "It was for the Kid trap." He paused to stand up straight and fold his arms across his chest. "It takes a lot of electrical energy for the trap to work, so some parts of the building were left without power for the lights."

Ginzo glared at him at that, "That wasn't what you told me. You told me that the bulbs in some of the lights in some parts of the building had blown at the last minute, and that you didn't have time to replace them."

The jewel owner scratched his cheek, almost nervously, "Yeah, I'm sorry, Nakamori-keibu, but that wasn't _entirely_ true."

That only seemed to make the inspector furious. He slammed a hand on the table in fury, glaring at the other with Shinichi between them. "Dammit, what else aren't you telling me?!"

Shinichi turned to screens, "You do realise that you've only made it easier for Kid to sneak in with all of these darkened hallways and corridors. You really are an amateur." The jewel owner turned to glare at the detective now, but it didn't seem to phase Shinichi at all as he turned to face the man in the eye. "If what you just told me is _true,_ and that, in order for the trap to work, you need a lot of power. How much is actually required? The Fukuzawa Hall is an enormous building with at _least_ three power generators to stabilise all of the electricity within the building. These would all work in their own separate ways of course, such as a generator for heating, one for security systems and another as the main power generator which _could_ also count as the back up generator in case of a blackout. And I know that you have a separate generator for heating as it is more than a little welcoming-warmth in the hallways. It's almost at the usual temperature you would expect in your own home because it is enough to fill the entire house. But the power to generate the heat in the Fukuzawa Hall is spread via a massive scale."

When Shinichi had finished his explanation, he placed his hands in his trouser pockets, staring straight at the jewel owner, "Now, what kind of trap is it that needed so much power?"

…

The area around the jewel room was quiet. Too quiet. The guards standing either side of the jewel entrance were following orders, remaining positioned at the entrance, underneath the heat scanner. Even though both guards were given a strict precise order to follow, they began to grow restless. The guard on the left of the jewel room entrance cleared his throat, hoping to break the awkward silence. And It did... for about three seconds before the dead silence filled the space around them again.

It was then when the guard on the right sighed, sliding his sleeve up his arm to reveal his watch for the time. Another sigh released him as he let his arm drop to hold his hands together behind his back. "It's two minutes past midnight."

The other guard turned his dark eyes to his colleague, "Wasn't he supposed to arrive at midnight?" he questioned, sounding a little worried, which was understandable as they had never encountered a criminal such as the infamous Kaitou Kid before. They didn't know _what_ he was capable of.

The guard on the right nodded, "Yeah, he was." There was a moment of silence between them before the guard on the right looked at both hallways, his wavy caramel hair following in the wake of his movements. "But no one's appeared. Not even a guard has done their round yet."

The dark eyed guard turned away from him, looking forward. A smile appearing on his face, a look of optimism suddenly replacing his worry. "Well, maybe the boss scared him off. I mean, come on, Akiyama. It wouldn't be the first time the boss has scared someone off."

Akiyama wasn't facing his colleague when he answered, his eyes straight, facing the plain white wall opposite the jewel room entrance. "Yeah, but apparently, _this_ guy doesn't back down from a challenge."

Just then, a guard came around the corner from the right corridor, drawing the guards' attention to the newcomer. The dark eyed guard spoke first, "Ah, Yoshifumi. Finally a familiar face."

Yoshifumi nodded in his direction, a professional but welcoming smile curving his lips as he walked past the two stationed guards. "Yeah, I know. It seems pretty dead out there. Any sign of Kaitou Kid yet?" he asked as he passed them, heading for the opposite corridor to continue his round.

Akiyama shook his head at Yoshifumi, "No, but Furuta here thinks the boss scared him off."

Yoshifumi gave a shrug as he approached the other darkened corridor, calling over his shoulder, "Well, like most criminals, they don't keep their word."

Furuta and Akiyama nodded, agreeing with that statement.

Furuta turned to Akiyama, opening his mouth to say something when he was cut off but the sound of something metallic clanging against the ground. Both guards turned towards the sound, watching with bemusement as a small silver oval shaped ball rolled to their feet. Furuta stopped it with his shoe, bending down to pick it up, holding the object in his hands.

Akiyama looked ready to question the object but his chance was brought to naught as the object opened in the centre and released cloudy grey smoke. Akiyama drew back, clearly alerted, "What the-"

His eyes, as well as Furuta's began to droop, their bodies unexpectedly growing limp as they unintentionally inhaled the smoke. When Furuta fell, his hand released the metal object, making it bounce off the ground. Before it could clang against the ground again, a gloved hand caught it.

Yoshifumi lifted the object, smirking devilishly at the two now slumbering bodies at his feet. "But, if you had done your research, you would _know_ that I am not like _most_ criminals."

Yoshifumi knelt down beside the guards, placing the sleeping gas canister on the ground to reach for his pocket; pulling out two red medium sized heat packs. Yoshifumi placed one on each of the guards before dragging their bodies to remain aligned with the heat scanner. Once the guards were lined up underneath the heat scanner, Yoshifumi carefully stepped over them and into the jewel room, being careful to remain on the literal edge of the room. _"Now the real fun can begin."_

Removing a pair of goggles from his pocket, Yoshifumi turned to face into the large, high-ceilinged jewel room. "Let's see what we have here," Yoshifumi whispered to himself, pulling the goggles on to see what this "trap" _really_ was. After making sure they were on correctly and comfortably, Yoshifumi examined the room, reaching up to the side of the goggles to click a switch.

As soon as the switch was flipped, the view changed. What seemed to be a dark room was actually a smoked deception to what was _actually_ going on in there. In the renewed view of the goggles, the dark room was suddenly filled with lasers, spreading out through all directions. Yoshifumi frowned to the sight before him, "That's letting off an extremely high heat signature, even for normal scanning lasers. I guess this means that it has to be done without the cape on for now. Shouldn't be a problem."

Yoshifumi stretched his arms out carefully, avoiding a laser that was just above his curled fingertips. _"Oh, Kaa-san, you're gonna be so proud of me after this."_ Yoshifumi thought to himself, smirking all the while

Without wasting anymore time, Yoshifumi set to work.

Crouching down, he slid underneath the first wire, whilst approaching another, which was lower than the first. Yoshifumi leant back on his hands, bringing his body up to remain still in a handstand, before folding his legs backwards over the wire, coming to stand on his feet. He then did a round off in-between two wires, but tucked in his legs as he came dangerously close to another wire that was slightly higher.

He reached back to one handedly back walk over another wire that was positioned diagonally across the space of Yoshifumi's personal bubble, sliding into the scissor splits, as there were a few lasers criss-crossing each other awkwardly. Seeing a chance of an opening, Yoshifumi inhaled deeply before lowering his head to his knee, holding it there as he rolled, whilst still in the splits, onto his back before carefully pushing himself up into a crab and back walking over a laser.

Crouching under another couple of lasers as they were only medium length, Yoshifumi realised that he was only about six steps away from the casing holding the jewel. _"If I coordinate my moves correctly, I'll get there in a couple of somersaulting strides."_ So, with that thought in mind, Yoshifumi looked around at the lasers surrounding him before deciding that if he aimed straight at the casing from the diagonal direction that he was currently at, he could literally go straight for it.

With another deep breath, Yoshifumi tuck jumped over one diagonal laser, landing on his hands which gave him the boost to back handspring and then cartwheeling, with tucked legs, over more lasers, finally landing about a step away from the glass casing. With one final forward handspring, Yoshifumi had his hands on the glass casing, using all of his strength (which would take a lot) to curve up and stand on the class casing, but turned on his hands to land his feet on the glass, also turning so that he could face the only entrance to the room.

Releasing a breath of relief, Yoshifumi reached into his pocket to pull out a card gun. "Better tell them that their guest of honour has arrive," he said quietly to himself before aiming the card gun towards a laser and firing, only to frown when the card was singed in half.

…

Back in the control room, Fukuzawa, Ginzo and Shinichi were waiting with prolonged anxiety. The digital clock beside the monitors read _00:10._ This only added to their growing anxiousness.

Ginzo was growing angry and irritated, for the fact that another chance to catch Kid might have been blown away by the jewel owner's secrets and suspicious actions. Ginzo wasn't stupid. And it seemed that Fukuzawa thought him to be so. But another problem for him was that he should be _in_ the building, checking the security by hand. Being stuck in the control room was only proving him to be useless.

Shinichi felt slightly similar to the inspector's uselessness, but he was focusing more on the live security footage before them. Something wasn't right. He just knew it. He had been staring at the two screens that showed the entrance of the jewel room. The guards stationed there hadn't moved, which Shinichi knew was for their orders as they were meant to be placed underneath the heat scanner above the entrance. But these two guards hadn't moved the slightest inch.

Another thing that bothered him was the answer to his question earlier when he asked what the trap in order to catch Kid actually was. Fukuzawa had only said that it was a light beam trap, that would set an alarm if any of the beams had been triggered. If that was the case, then why was he so tight lipped about the trap to begin with? Why keep _that_ a secret? Clearly it had something to do with a trigger as traps more or less consisted of those in order for them to work, so the fact that Fukuzawa decided to _hide_ that from the inspector didn't take him off of Shinichi's suspect list. And even if Fukuzawa _had_ willingly told Nakamori about the trap, Shinichi highly doubted that Fukuzawa would tell him about it as the jewel owner made it _perfectly_ clear that he didn't trust Shinichi.

"Something isn't right. There should have been a sign of Kid by now," Ginzo complained as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest tightly.

Fukuzawa's lips twitched (as if he was resisting the urge to smile), as he turned to the inspector. "Maybe, he chose not to come. My security is definitely enough to scare off criminals. It's happened before."

"No." Shinichi cut in abruptly, his hands on the edge of the monitor display and his eyes fixed on the two screens that viewed the jewel room entrance. All the men in the room turned to him, the Kid task force members turning to listen in, clearly interested. "Kid has never backed down from a challenge. And I don't think Kid would miss this opportunity."

Fukuzawa's eyes widened, slightly aghast to the teenage detective's words. "Opportunity?! You're saying that as if I'm handing the _Aquamarine Stone_ to him on a silver platter!"

"Well, isn't that what you've _kind_ of done?" Shinichi calmly shot back, looking at the jewel owner from the corner of his eye; azure blue reflecting the lights from the monitor screens.

"What are you suggesting?!" Rage began to rise in Fukuzawa, his fury becoming evident in his posture and voice. And it was clear by Shinichi's face, he didn't care that he was pissing him off.

"You've left so many hallways open without security cameras or stationed guards and even without lights. Kid knows how to sneak around," Shinichi notified. "And knowing the phantom like I do, darkened hallways are Kid's favourite place to hide and use for his advantage. Do you see what you've done by focusing all of your security on this," he gestured a waving finger to the two screens viewing the jewel room entrance, "part of the building? Kid could even be _in there_ right now and we wouldn't even know."

Fukuzawa shook his head, reaching into his pocket to check the heat scanner readings. The measurement being the same as it had twenty five minutes ago. He shook his head again, "That's impossible. There's only one way in there and it's through _that_ entrance right there." He said in denial as he pointed to the screens. "And anyway, the guards are still standing there. They haven't moved."

Now Ginzo was glaring at those two screens, "But don't they look a little _too_ still to you?" He asked aloud as he zeroed in further on the screens, as if he was playing spot the difference.

Fukuzawa rolled his eyes, "Yes, they were their orders as they need to remain positioned there so that the heat scanner can measure their combined temperature as well as that of the area that they are standing in."

"Can I see that monitor that you keep so close to you?" Shinichi inquired as he straightened his posture to face the jewel owner.

Fukuzawa raised a suspecting eyebrow, "Why?"

The detective resisted the urge to role his eyes at the ridiculous comeback. "Because I need to check something."

After a moment of reluctance, Fukuzawa handed the device over to him.

Looking at the screen for a few moments, Shinichi's eyebrows drew closer together. "If this is the temperature reading for those two guards, why is it so high?" He asked, mainly to himself.

Fukuzawa cocked his head to the side, slightly confused by the question. "What are you talking about?"

Shinichi handed the inspector the device, letting him get a good look at it, before turning back to face the jewel owner. "The human body normally registers to the temperature of 37°C. But the temperature reading that is radiating off those guards is at 41°C, which is unhealthy for the human body unless they have a fever. But something is making these guards hotter than their normal body temperature." He turned to the monitor screens, looking at the guards standing at the jewel room entrance from both angles. "But they don't even look like they are sweating or becoming uncomfortable. Then that also means that their body temperature is combining with that of the area they're in, and I'm going to guess that that unnecessary heat is coming from the jewel room where you are holding the trap for Kid." Shinichi paused to looked back to Fukuzawa with his eyes narrowed, "And that isn't good for the safety of your security guards. That's an abnormal level of room temperature, as well as body temperature combined."

Ginzo's head shot to Fukuzawa, "Just what kind of _beams_ do you have in there?!"

"Fukuzawa-san!" Called out one of the Kid task force members that were sat at the monitor desk, closest to where Fukuzawa was standing.

Ginzo, Shinichi and Fukuzawa turned to him. Fukuzawa me his eyes, "What is it?"

"The trap has been triggered," the task member declared as calmly as he could.

Fukuzawa's eyes shot open wide as he pushed past Shinichi to look at the jewel room entrance screens. "That's impossible! There's no way he could have gotten in there. The guards are still there, they haven't moved at all."

Shinichi sighed, "It seems that we have all been played from the beginning." When Fukuzawa and Ginzo turned to him, Shinichi began making his way to the control room door. "The footage was put on a loop, so what we were all staring at was what the guards had been sometime ago. But it was hard to pick up as I would guess that the loop is about a minute long."

"How long have you known about this?!" Fukuzawa demanded, though to Shinichi, it seemed that the jewel owner was taking the role of the loud inspector tonight. "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"I just pieced it together now, going by the monitors still showing that footage. Which would also explain the fact of those two guards remaining so still, accept for the one hand movement that's only brief and almost unnoticeable." Without saying another word, Shinichi pushed the door open and fled the room. Ginzo was quick to follow him, Fukuzawa not far behind him as they rushed to the jewel room.

…

There was an entire group of people running to the jewel room, the group had only gathered due to Ginzo calling out to as many of his task force members that he passed; many that had been standing outside being called on the radio. Fukuzawa was in front of the group, beside Shinichi who was almost passing him, which seemed to tick Fukuzawa off as he kept glancing at the teenage detective from the corner of his eye.

The group turned the corner of the jewel room, the only light in most of the hallways that they had just run through keeping the jewel room entrance hallway bright for everyone to see. However, they all instantly froze to the sight of Furuta and Akiyama laying unconscious by the large entrance door frame. Purposefully placed under the heat scanner, a visible red patch on their chests.

Shinichi was the first to act, striding over to where the men lay and kneeling down to examine the red patch, picking one up in his hand. "A heat pack?" He then looked up to see into the darkened jewel room. On closer observation, Shinichi could just about make out the darkened figure that was crouched on top of the display case. "Kid?" He questioned rather then identified.

Hearing the name caused Ginzo to dash over to where Shinichi was, with full intention of darting into the room in order to catch the thief. "Kid!"

Just as the inspector was ready to step into the eerily darkened jewel room, a hand shot out to grasp a handful of the back of Ginzo's suit jacket, "No!" Then Ginzo was flung back into the wall facing the jewel room entrance. When the inspector looked up to glare at the culprit, he was a little surprised to see that it was Fukuzawa standing there staring back at him. "You can't go in there." Ginzo was ready to protest when Fukuzawa turned away to step closer to the entrance door frame, staring with a hard and cold scowl into the room, directly at the figure shadowed by the room's darkness. Fukuzawa turned to one of his men who had accompanied them in their _pleasant_ run. "Kirigoya, turn off the trap's power and turn the lights on for the jewel room."

Kirigoya, narrow green eyes and swept back black hair, nodded and straightened where he stood. "Yes, sir," he answered before running back through the way all of them had come through. Fukuzawa turned back to the darkened figure.

The darkened figure's head moved slightly, "That's right, we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt now, _would we_?"

It was at that moment that the lights turned back on, revealing the jewel room's exterior to everyone who could see through the doorway. The lights being turned on revealed the figure to be a man crouched on the display case, wearing the uniform one of Fukuzawa's security men, hat shielding their face.

The group began to filter in slower, gathering around the display case whilst also keeping their distance.

Fukuzawa clenched his fist, "How did you get _in_ here?"

The crouched figure's shoulders dropped as if sighing to themselves, without the noise. "I don't think that's the question you should be asking, Fukuzawa-san." The figure lifted their head to reveal their face. "Wouldn't you agree?" Their tone was soft and calm, almost a gentle whisper that was only patronising the jewel owner.

Fukuzawa looked to the space of where the night's target was held, smirking to seeing the _Aquamarine Stone_ glinting on the white silk cushion. "Hmph, you clearly haven't acted as your reputation makes you out to be. You haven't even stolen the jewel. Is it because you can't, _Kaitou Kid_?"

Kid let out a cough of laughter, "Oh no, I only waited here patiently because I like performing to an audience. What's a magician without the show themselves?"

The jewel owner and the inspector's eyes widened, surprised. "So, you just... _waited_ here?"

Kid hummed, moving to stand on the display case, looking directly at the jewel owner, "I am a gentleman after all, unlike _you_."

Fukuzawa's eyes narrowed as he looked to the thief's now heightened gaze. "So, you took the disguise of Yoshifumi." His expression then changed into that of disdainful as he gazed up at Kid. "I'll admit that I'm surprised by your progress tonight, especially making it through my trap."

Kid's own eyes narrowed down at him, face turning ever so slightly sour to the man. "I am a man of my word. My warnings are also promises that I keep." Kid paused, turning away to look around the now lit room. "But your _trap_ could have hurt anyone standing in this room."

The jewel owner faltered, his cocky physique changing instantly, quite aware that many people had turned to gape at him. Fukuzawa knew that he would need to lie. "Well, now, that's absurd. My trap was completely harmless."

Kid turned to the inspector, who seemed to be a little dumbstruck to everything that was going on. Kid then turned to see the exit, seeing the eastern detective sneak out of the jewel room, identifying that as her cue to leave. Kid reached up to grasp the front of her hat, pulling it down slightly to overshadow her contact-covered eyes. "Well, as much as I have enjoyed this wild night of enjoyment, I really must be going."

"But... you haven't even taken the gem yet," Ginzo pointed out as he stepped closer to the display case.

Kid peered back to him with her left eye, clouded brown with its own individual facade. "I _never_ disappoint, Nakamori-keibu." With that, Kid reached down to grasp her uniform, pulling back white fabric to transform from the security guard Yoshifumi, and into the infamous Kaitou Kid. Cape, suit, hat and monocle in place to face the others in the room. Kid bowed to them, holding her cape out to the side of her, "I will wish you all a good evening."

Just then, everyone pounced all at once towards the display case. Kid however, knowing their predictable actions _all_ too well, winked to them before spinning on the tip of her left shoe, the white shoe sliding gracefully over the polished glass, before throwing down a smoke bomb, filling the room with pink smoke.

While they were all busy trying to breathe through the smoke, Kid had shot her grapple gun upwards towards the ceiling windows, zooming up there before climbing through the windows and making a break for the top roof.

After a couple of minutes were spent trying to breathe through the smoke and bumping into the other task force members as well as Fukuzawa's men, Ginzo and Fukuzawa had both reached the display case only to find it Kidless and empty. The _Aquamarine Stone_ missing from its space on the white silk cushion.

Fukuzawa slammed his hands on the glass, desperately staring at the now empty spot in disbelief. "That's... That's impossible!" he choked out, not believing that he had actually lost.

Ginzo turned away from him, face filled with agitation. He felt no sympathy for the man. Ginzo would even go as far as saying that the jewel owner deserved it, for keeping all of his secrets and keeping his _true_ plan away from Ginzo, as they could have caught Kid but the jewel owner blew it. Ginzo was now going to do things _his_ way.

Turning to his men, Ginzo gestured with a hand to the task force members, "Check all of the exits and entrances! Check the fire escapes!" He pointed to a group that were stood to the side, "You guys, come with me to the roof. Kid couldn't have gone far," He ordered whilst half running out of the jewel room, leaving the now angrily sulking Fukuzawa to himself.

…

Shinichi made it to the roof, thankfully before anyone else did. He wasn't too sure if Kid was already there or not but he had a feeling that she was, as it took him nearly five minutes to find it himself. But knowing that Kid had her skill of finding different ways, it wouldn't surprise him. So, with a deep breath, Shinichi pushed the door leading to the roof open, instantly being engulfed by a chilling breeze which was quite refreshing due to his previous run.

The detective took a step onto the open roof, glancing around in search for the mysterious thief in white; stunned when he didn't see her.

He took another step before a voice sounded somewhere above him. "Ah, Meitantei. I had a feeling you would come here to see me off," purred the thief, who was sat on top of the box that held the roof door, a fanning generator to her right.

Shinichi turned around, smirking a little. Even though he knew what the _true_ person under that monocle sounded like, it was still weird for Shinichi to hear the masculine tone come out of the thief's lips. Though he had to admit, the voice was definitely charming. "Did you _wait_ for me?" He questioned in return, pushing his hands into his trouser pockets.

"Hm," Kid sounded, pushing herself up from the box to flip over Shinichi and stand before him, the roof door behind the detective so she could see if anyone was coming through the roof door, that was still open. "How did you enjoy tonight?" She asked, glancing at him from the side, moonlight causing her suit to glow bright against the darkened sky.

Shinichi's smirk changed into a frown as he thought of all the things that the jewel owner had kept from everyone, including Ginzo. "I'm going to be honest. It wasn't as enjoyable as it normally is. Fukuzawa had too many secrets and his motives for _you_ weren't exactly _Kid-heist_ material."

Kid turned her head away at that, facing off into the darkened night. Shinichi could see that when she did so, her hat obscured her eyes from his view. "I can only agree with you on that, Tantei-kun. That trap wouldn't have been safe for _anyone._ " Kid paused, thinking over what she had to do in order to get close to the display case. "Fukuzawa-san was far too reckless. He had full knowledge of what that trap could do to _anyone,_ and yet he still put it forward as part of his plan."

Shinichi wanted to step closer to her, but thought better of it, deciding that it would be better to remain grounded. "Fukuzawa told us that the trap was filled with detector beams."

Kid wanted to laugh, but only showed a smirk instead as she turned to the detective, "Oh, is _that_ what he called it?" Her tone was almost patronising, which alerted Shinichi that she was probably irritated with the jewel owner's plan. Sighing, the moonlight magician closed her eyes and gently grasped the rim of her hat. "I will admit, tonight has most certainly been eventful, but I was a little discouraged by your absence, Meitantei. What happened?" She questioned, playfulness rising in her tone again.

This time, it was _Shinichi's_ turn to get annoyed. The eastern detective released an agitated grumble, running a hand through his hair as he did so. " _That_ would be because Fukuzawa had me by his side for a majority of the night. Due to him not trusting me, he didn't want me out of his sight so he made me stand in the control room with him as we waited for _you_ to show up."

Kid placed a hand on her chest, acting out appreciation. "Aww, Meitantei! You _missed_ me didn't you?" Shinichi rolled his eyes to that, but was grinning none the less. Though Kid added with a feminine hand gesture towards him, "Don't worry, I missed you too."

The eastern detective could see in the darkened view Kid wink at him, even though his face warmed beautifully into rose. So, in an attempt to shield his heated embarrassment, Shinichi put a curled up hand to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Anyway, moving _on_. Where's the jewel?" He asked, remaining as professional as his rosy cheeks would allow.

The white phantom thief tutted her gloved index finger at him, "Uh-uh-uh, Meitantei, patience is avert you." Kid was ready to reach for her breast pocket that held the jewel but froze in place, hand half-way up to her chest as she turned her eyes to view the tall building about a mile away from her left. The building over shadowed the Fukuzawa Hall by about seventeen floors, those floors being designed with floor to ceiling windows; creating a mirror to everything that surrounded it in the night time.

Kid's eyes narrowed slightly, though her body was still facing the detective. _"I could have sworn I saw a glisten of light over there... though it's probably just the moonlight. I_ hope _it's just the moonlight."_

The sudden silence from the thief had instantly made Shinichi on edge. This was the _Kaitou Kid_. The always collected thief that was always in control in her own ground, knowing all of the strengths and weaknesses of her plan as well as her surroundings. And she was someone who _wasn't_ fooled easily. So, when Shinichi had seen her eyes redirect towards something that was at the left of her, it couldn't have been good.

As though she had sensed the detective's uneasiness, Kid quickly turned back to him with her traditional Kid smirk. The hand that had been reaching for the jewel falling to her side. "It seems that I will have to give you the pleasure of taking the jewel next time." She turned the side ever so slightly. "I will have to bid you goodnight, Meitantei. And please make sure you go _straight_ home tonight."

To the sudden turn in conversation and underlined worry in the thief's voice, Shinichi was nonplussed. He could only stand there and gawk at her. With the steadiest amount of breath that he could conjure, Shinichi nodded, turning to walk back into the Fukuzawa Hall. He stopped to turn to the moonlight magician, "Why did you-"

"Watch out!" Kid called out, suddenly darting towards the detective to push him back into the building.

Shinichi only managed to acknowledge the feel of Kid's hand pushing him backwards into the roof's doorway entrance hard and the whispered sound of metal being hit. Once he was in the roof's entrance, he looked to the roof's door-frame where he was able to clock a yellow flashing spark. Upon closer inspection, he could see a bullet hole denting the metal. He turned to the thief, "So, that's why you-" his words died on him as he saw Kid fall against the white tiles, a hand grasped tightly over what looked to be blood stained material. Her face morphed into that of annoyance, clearly trying to hide the pain. The detective stepped forward, hand held out to her, "Kid?"

The thief held up the hand that wasn't holding her bleeding arm, though she instantly regretted the movement. "I'm fine, Meitantei." She turned to glance through the open roof door, seeing only the edge of the multiple-windowed building. "Though it seems we have company. It could either be some irritant or a friend of Fukuzawa's."

Kid's words made sense to the detective, being reminded of the earlier hours of the evening where Fukuzawa had more or less cornered him, keeping an eye on him, making Shinichi remain in the control room with him and Nakamori. "Do you think Fukuzawa built that trap to _kill_ you?"

Kid pushed herself off the white tiled wall, hand still grasped tightly against her still bleeding right arm, but her expression was showing that she was paying the pain no mind. Instead, she positioned herself beside the detective, who was staring at her wound with worry. "That trap was at a level of dangerous I have never encountered before when it comes to traps in general. It was engineered with lasers that can cut through flesh and bone; like a hot knife cutting cheese. I knew there was something off about the jewel room before I even entered it. And I knew that the level of working electricity had been tampered with, as so many places in the building were dark, being left without working lights. Going back to the lasers, that would be another reason for the heat scanner above the jewel room door. It wasn't just to measure body temperature, it was to measure body temperature with the combined heat radiating from the jewel room, so they would appear a lot warmer than they were naturally. But when asleep, our body temperature tends to drop a few degrees, due to it being at a natural healing function."

"So, that's why you put down those heat packs on two of Fukuzawa's men, so that the heat scanner wouldn't pick up the difference in body temperature," Shinichi added on to her explanation, his head lowered as he played back all of the clues and things that Fukuzawa wanted kept under wraps. "That heat scanner was ultra sensitive, so if the guards had just been knocked unconscious, the heat scanner would pick up the slight drop in temperature."

Kid nodded. "When I passed the room holding the jewel, I was able to feel the slight heated wave of air that flowed out of the room." She turned to Shinichi, "When you were in the building, did you feel an unusual amount of heat?"

Shinichi nodded, glancing outside to try and see where the sniper was coming from through the gap in the open roof door. "For a place like this, the heating throughout the building would be almost cooling, as Fukuzawa holds multiple tours here, so it would need to be turned down in order for guests to feel comfortable when in large groups. But I picked up on the fact that it was rather hot in the hallways and corridors, as well as the large touring rooms. When I confronted Fukuzawa about it whilst we were in the control room, he didn't seem to have anything to say." The detective then lowered his head, sudden guilt enveloping his face. "I just wish I could have confronted him _sooner_ about it."

There was silence between them before Kid closed her eyes, a shaky sigh escaping her lips. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Meitantei. There was no way you could have predicted anything that Fukuzawa-san was doing, especially if he didn't speak a word of his plans to anyone." Kid stepped closer to the open door, stepping on the very edge of the door-frame, observing more of the tall building now to her right. She could see out of the corner of her eye, Shinichi taking a step closer to her in order to do the same, but she quickly put her wounded arm out to stop him, grimacing when she did so, when another bullet pinged off the door.

Shinichi's azure eyes were darting to and from at Kid's face and at her wound... that was _still_ bleeding.

"It doesn't make sense," he heard her mutter to mainly herself. Shinichi remained silent when she continued, "If they were after _me,_ why didn't they shoot me when I was sitting above the roof door? Unless they weren't _there_ at that point. And if they _were_ , then why did they only shoot when Meitantei was about to leave the roof?" She turned to half face the detective, "Maybe, they were after you, Meitantei?" She suggested, hoping that she was wrong.

Shinichi's eyebrows lowered, "It's a possibility, but it doesn't change the fact that they shot _you_ and not me, when they had a clear shot."

There was a loud bang that came from a few stair levels below them, along with the unmistakable call of "Kid!" from none other than Nakamori-keibu. The sound of multiple hurried footsteps informed both thief and detective that they didn't have long.

Kid quickly turned to Shinichi, "Meitantei, you stay here and hold them off. I'll run out and fly away on my hang-glider."

"But what if-" Shinichi protested, staring intently at Kid, clearly not liking her idea.

"We don't have time, Meitantei. We can't risk Nakamori-keibu or any of the task force members getting hurt, now go!" That was all she said before she ran onto the roof, closing the door as she did so.

As the door was closing, Shinichi watched her white cape transform into a hang-glider before the door slammed closed. The footsteps were just a level of steps below him and Shinichi looked around, quickly dashing over to the wall Kid had leant against when she was shot, also where her blood had accidently smeared against the bright white tiles. So, thinking quickly, Shinichi lifted the inside of his jacket to wipe the blood away with the inside corner. He just managed to rid the tiles of Kid's blood as Ginzo and his men approached the top.

Ginzo grew surprised to seeing Shinichi there. "Kudo-kun? Where's Kid?"

Shinichi gestured to the roof, "He left just as I arrived," he answered confidently; lying was like second nature to him now.

Ginzo glared towards the closed roof door, storming over to it, "Damn you, Kaitou Kid!"

Shinichi quickly stood in front of the door, arms outstretched to his sides, stopping the inspector. "Wait, Nakamori-keibu, you can't go out there."

Ginzo drew back slightly, again surprised. "What? Why?"

Shinichi took a deep breath, meeting the inspector's eyes. "Because there's a sniper shooting at this building."

Multiple gasps were heard from the task force members. Ginzo's eyes widened in shock. "A sniper?! Why would a sniper be here?! At a Kid heist no less?!

Shinichi, though he had a good idea of who the sniper might be, still gave the inspector (who was kept in the dark about snipers and the murdering organisations) a person to take aside and question. "I'm not too sure, but you might want to question Fukuzawa-san of his _true_ intentions for tonight, as I don't think the trap that he had built was intended just to capture Kid."

The inspector was beginning to get nervous, "But if Fukuzawa-san didn't intend on capturing Kid, then are you saying that he meant to..." he trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence as _that_ kind of news was too harsh and unsettling.

Shinichi nodded, "Yes. I think Fukuzawa-san had built that trap to kill Kid."

…

 _ **Author's Note: Here is Aquamarine, and I know, it's long. But I hope you enjoyed it. If you did give me a comment and tell me what you thought, I love hearing what you all think.**_

 _ **The next chapter is called "Horrid Result", so please look forward to it, but until then, stay beautiful my lovelies!**_

 _ ***MANY KISSES* AMCDeBurgh ^_~**_


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